Death and Prophecy
by Lady Demoonica Darkmoon
Summary: -AD&D- ...And after that last insult, you marched down to the docks and booked passage on the first ship out of town. It wasn't a hard decision, really. You'd had it. And the Red Cloud was taking passengers. -chapters 45, 46, & 47 added-
1. Prologue

LDD: In keeping with posting my Dungeon Master's Advanced Dungeons and Dragons games, I bring you Death and Prophecy. Now he did run this with my gaming group, but this is the DM transcript of the next group of unknowing adventurers he put through it, I don't have our groups' transcript because his brother has it somewhere and I never see him, with a few changes to their game that wasn't in ours. Mostly because they made different choices, and also because they kept finding 'Rojer was here' written in places and I have to say right now that Rojer was my character when our group was ran through this and the DM must have found my antics funny enough to keep it and use it to mess with the minds of the next bunch of players. I myself can't wait to see how things go differently for their group.

Our Dungeon Master, who has an account on here under the name Rockbender -but no stories- calls the campaign "Death and Prophecy", hence the title.

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Death and Prophecy

by

Rockbender (and small edits by Lady Demoonica Darkmoon)

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Prologue...

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...And after that last insult, you marched down to the docks and booked passage on the first ship out of town.

It wasn't a hard decision, really. You'd had it. And the Red Cloud was taking passengers. Captain Avery smiled broadly as she welcomed you on board. With little fanfare you were heading west.

West. The stout little ship took you far from the lands you knew. Far past even the farthest port you ever remember hearing about... and you listened to every story you were told growing up.

Stories... Stories of heroes... Tales of adventure... And now, it appears, you are going to get the chance to carve your own story out of whatever land you wander into.

And the ports come and go... The Red Cloud stops now and then, dropping off cargo and people, and picking up more of the same. The town's names are lost in a whirl as you pass further and further west. The lands change, the local language becomes more difficult to follow, and still you sail on. Sometimes you look into the sky at night and swear the very stars are different.

Weeks turn to a month, then two, and finally your travel money is getting dangerously low. You've already pitched in with the crew and they've gladly accepted your help, but your legs are finally getting restless for dry land.

This morning, a heavy fog greeted you as you awoke. The watch has been careful, because there's a stop to be made soon. The captain appears from her cabin and takes over the wheel. The rising sun turns the sea fog red and then burns it away, revealing the nearby coast and a small dock servicing an equally small town. Ominously, the prow of a wrecked ship decorates an underwater reef at the entrance to the bay, the lonely bowsprit pointing towards the southern sky.

From the stern of the ship, you get your first impressions of the area. The autumn air blows crisp and sharp down the farmlands to the west to pour out over the seaside town. A small river meanders through these fields, emptying into the ocean east of town. A forest stretches into low hills to the east and north. A wide, lonely road winds in from the northeast down from the wooded hills and across a sturdy wooden bridge. It continues west following the seacoast until it runs out of sight into some low cliffs.

The town itself is built all the way up to the docks. You can make out the usual one or two alehouses catering to seafarers and scoundrels. There are maybe three dozen buildings of no more than two stories with flat or barely angled roofs painted black. There are a few stone buildings, but most are made of wood painted with bright colors. A large, whitewashed stone structure to the north of the town sits beside the bridge. Smoke pours from many chimneys in this area. Two large structures near the waterfront have the look of warehouses.

With these observations in your thoughts, Captain Avery expertly drops the Red Cloud into dock at the small seaside town. You look around at several others who will be debarking. Several introductions have been made already, and it looks like you will have company on your adventures.

As you inform the captain that you intend to depart, she cautions you: "Sparburg is the easternmost city of the Kingdom of the Amulets... or," she smiles, "...the westernmost province of The Land of the Crystal Eye. This, of course, depends on which side has invaded most recently. Currently the Amulets hold this city and have for three years, but that could change at any time. Check in with the city watch, they might have something for you to do. Their commander's name is Brakkai. Good luck!"

As the cargo is unloaded from the ship, you shoulder your pack and walk down the gangplank. Already you are surrounded by the bustle of the town. You glance back and see red-haired Captain Avery leaning against the railing. She gives you a wave and turns back to directing the crew.

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End Prologue...

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LDD: There's the prologue. Leave a review and tell us what you think! 


	2. Session 1

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Death and Prophecy

by

Rockbender (and small edits by Lady Demoonica Darkmoon)

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Session 1

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Sviftmont 12 - beginning of winter season

After saying good-bye to Captain Avery on the Red Cloud, the shipboard companions left the dock area and separated for a short while.

Lasrien and Scath wandered straight through town and stretched their legs in the forest to the north and east of Sparburg. After several hours communing with nature, the pair returned to town.

Parvati quickly slipped into a dockside bar and washed the taste of the watery shipboard ale out of her mouth with some better quality wine. It turns out that Sparburg's dockside rotgut wasn't much better than shipboard fare.

Brother Frank took the advice of the captain and entered town with the intention of speaking to Captain Brakkai, the local Castim. He was granted a meeting, and, as the Captain of the Red Cloud had guessed, he had a job for Brother Frank. The town's most well-known Ranger, Ganelon, and his animal companion (a warthog named Ugly) had gone missing and Brakkai wanted them found.

Also in the office with Captain Brakkai, was the local locksmith's daughter, Nadia Ravenlock. Nadia had just been nabbed in possession of a stolen piece of artwork and Brakkai had the uncomfortable job of deciding whether she was going to be sentenced to working in the mines for a week or leveling a huge fine on her. Either would have looked bad on her family, however.

Nadia interjected that she knew the area where Ganelon went missing and would lead Brother Frank and his companions to the area. Brakkai agreed that if Nadia would accept this job he would consider her debt paid. Nadia accepted the work-release plan.

Brother Frank also requested a (cheap) place to spend the night. Brakkai recommended the Monk's Secret Inn to which he directed Brother Frank.

Brother Frank left and rounded up Parvati, Lasrien and Scath and explained the situation. The group acquired rooms at the Monk's Secret and discussed the mission, agreeing to leave for the area with Nadia on the next morning.

Meanwhile, Nadia had shadowed Brother Frank to get a look at her new travelling companions. She successfully shadowed them to the inn, she then went home to spend the night and bring her father, Olin Ravenlock, up to date on her trip the next day.

Sviftmont 13

The next day, the group sets out for Logging Camp #2, hoping to reach it after a half-day of walking. Pushing through the ankle-deep snow on the road, the party meets an old friend of Nadia's named Afon driving a logging cart pulled by oxen. Afon tells them that Ganelon was at Logging Camp #2 two days ago and said he was going to travel to the Stone Garden because he felt there was something he needed to check on there. He also tells them that the logging camp is finishing up for the season, and cleaning-up at the camp is almost finished. The group thanked him and continued towards the camp.

Right before the camp, Nadia recommends that the everyone slip off into the woods and watch surreptitiously for a few minutes before they walk in. Her plan is adopted, but nothing is revealed but normal camp operations.

Revealing themselves, the party learns no more than what Afon had told them. However, they find out the camp has been the victim of several burglaries with the vandals taking several saws that had been stolen from a locked shed. No one there seemed to know who would have taken the tools or why.

Moving east into the Tack Ninth Range of mountains, the party finally reaches the small plateau whereupon the mysterious Stone Garden flourishes. The Stone Garden resembles several dozen tall columns of stone upon which rest large flat stones. This makes them look like stone mushrooms. Upon examining them, the party finds each 'tree' to be made of one piece of stone, although all sport cracks. Parvati also divined that they also bear a trace of transmutation magic.

While examining the plateau, Ganelon's warthog, Ugly, put in an appearance. He looked ragged and smelled as unpleasant as only a warthog can. Scath stayed upwind and would bury his nose in the snow at his approach.

Not finding Ganelon, the party spread out over the plateau. Lasrien moved to the western edge of the plateau which gave a wonderful view northeast to southwest over the foothills of the Tack Ninth Range down over the Orphan Plains. An excellent view of the Logging Road was also revealed by this forsaken edge of cliff which plunged over a hundred feet down to a cold, snowy stream below.

On the mountainside, Lasrien and Scath found a new opening in the side of the cliff. Gathering their allies, they peered into what turned out to be a shaft in the side of the mountain leading to an unknown depth. Parvati cast light onto Brother Frank's robe and then the halfling was lowered into the silent depths.

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End of Session 1

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	3. Session 2

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Death and Prophecy

by

Rockbender (and small edits by Lady Demoonica Darkmoon)

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Session 2

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As he was lowered, he noticed that the sides of the shaft had handholds placed to facilitate climbing up and down. Unfortunately, they were sized for someone bigger than his Halfling stature.

After a 60' drop, Brother Frank's furry feet touched bottom and he alerted the rest of the party. Lasrien had been examining the entrance and found a hidden alcove containing a 10' sturdy ladder. When affixed to a hidden clamp at the shaft's top, it allowed anyone to climb down to the handholds easily. Leaving Scath and Ugly on guard topside, the party was soon down at the bottom of the shaft.

Two passages were revealed by the party's light: one going east and another going south. The passages were rough-cut, like someone rounded off a natural cavern with tools. However, the floor was covered in crushed gravel. After some consultation, the party decided to move east.

However, before they could do so, a pair of voices from the top of the shaft stopped them. A fair human voice told the party that they had been sent by Captain Brakkai to assist them. Moments later, the huge form of Gruell Bonecrusher bounced down from above. Professing a dislike of heights, the other volunteered to guard the entrance while the party explored.

The party moved east and Gruell quickly found several drops of blood on the gravel floor. Almost immediately from ahead in the dark came several dark-fletched darts. One hit Nadia, wounding her. Gruell and Lasrien moved to the front and encountered several dark, dirty figures that quickly vanished after the pair dispatched four of their number.

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End of Session 2

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	4. Session 3

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Death and Prophecy

by

Rockbender (and small edits by Lady Demoonica Darkmoon)

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Session 3

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The east passage turned south. Nadia noticed a crack in the eastmost wall that resembled an arrow slit. Using her natural Halfling size she squeezed through and found another passage that moved south. She followed it cautiously.

Meanwhile, more darts flew from the southern passage, wounding Gruell who charged down the passage after the chittering of the critters. She narrowly missed tripping over a tripline trap the little creatures had set, scaring them off in all directions into the dark.

Lasrien healed the wounded half-orc and then the party moved south to another crossroads. Appearing from the darkness to their right was Nadia who had found her southern corridor emerged just east of the one the party was taking.

Moving into a square room to the west of the passage they had just traveled, the group encountered more of the small beasts throwing darts from behind a shattered table. Lasrien tossed a produce flame into the room so Gruell had enough light to jump over the table and engage the creatures from the other side.

Quickly the group dispatched the creatures, finding little but shattered remains of what once must have been a guardroom. Because of damage taken and spells cast, the group decided to make camp in the guardroom for the night.

During the break, Nadia crafted the impatient Gruell a doll out of carved wooden bits found in the guardroom. Gruell named the doll 'Thog' after a famous half-orc warrior.

Sviftmont 14

The next morning, Nadia checked for traps set by the tiny creatures. She found and removed one at the entrance of the former guard's chambers. The group moved into the large, empty area to the east. The sound of running water began to fill the air as the party moved along the north wall of the underground room.

Suddenly the air was filled with more darts. Lasrien cast the spell produce flame and flung it into where he judged the center of the cavern would be. His spell flew the length of the room and landed near the edge of an underground pool, lighting up the room.

In the center of the room, near the pool were a half-dozen of the creatures blocking the path to a prone, human-sized, figure. Gruell and Lasrien engaged them along with Parvati while Nadia noticed something.

Once the room had been lit, it was revealed to her that the north wall of the cavern was chiseled fairly flat and a huge fresco was painted upon it. It was obviously a painting of a temple with two huge golden doors. Intrigued, Nadia climbed the wall up to the doors and discovered they were trapdoors. Deftly she found the hidden catch and the doors swung open revealing an odd-shaped room.

Nadia entered and found a trapdoor in the northernmost alcove. She also discovered it had a deadly trap affixed to it. Were you to trip it, it would drop the low ceiling crushing those below. She disarmed the trap and opened the trapdoor just enough to get a whiff of poison gas from below. With Parvati's help, she exited and shut the trapdoor quickly and moved back out of the room and back to the cavern.

Meanwhile, the small creatures had been defeated and Lasrien was tending to the fallen figure, revealed to be Ganelon. The creatures had overcome him and had broken his fingers, and staked him out of reach of the water. They had also rubbed salt in his eyes and mouth, tormenting him mercilessly.

The water dripping turned out to be a large pool of fresh water almost completely filling the southern corner of the cave. To the west, the party noted was a short passage with several doors leading further into the complex.

After Ganelon was capable of movement, the party voted to continue exploring for a while longer to try to exterminate the vermin infesting the complex. However, it was agreed that they would retire for the rest of the day and continue the next morning. They carried Ganelon back to the guardroom and let him rest.

Sviftmont 15

After checking for traps at the entrance to the guardroom (again), the party moved out to explore the southern part of the complex. After passing through several trashed rooms, Nadia found the first real treasure: 3 red gems under a collapsed military bunk. Listening at the far door, Nadia also detected sounds and movement - probably (she guessed) from the small vermin that the party had fought before.

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End of Session 3

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	5. Session 4

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Death and Prophecy

by

Rockbender (and small edits by Lady Demoonica Darkmoon)

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Session 4

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Gruell smashed in the door and the party soundly defeated a group of the creatures lead by one in a small red cap. Nadia and Parvati examined the cap (because it was on the head of a spellcaster), and announced it just had traces of magic. Nadia gave Gruell the cap for Thog to wear.

The room turned out to be an old mess hall. It truly was a mess. After the combat, it wasn't much better. The only things salvageable were a couple of primitive daggers and a round shield, blackened by soot hanging decoratively on the north wall beneath a long-gone torch sconce. Gruell took it and after a little quick work to fix the straps, it became serviceable again.

Sounds through the door to the north convinced the party not to go that way. Quickly and quietly, Gruell and the others blocked the door with bits of broken tables and chairs. Then the party moved back to the hallway.

The party found another door that they surmised opened into the room they just blocked. Reshuffling the party order, Brother Frank took point, and after Nadia opened the lock, he flung the door wide.

As soon as the door was opened, the holy man was attacked by giant rats. Realizing that she would be more use against them, Gruell tried to lift Brother Frank away so she could deal with the four-legged vermin. However, Gruell's great strength became her undoing as when she grabbed his robe, it shredded under her touch!

With Brother Frank down to his shorts, the party redoubled its efforts to slay the rats, including one twice the size of the others. Brother Frank jumped over the rats and was greeted with a hail of darts from the darkness to the west. He charged what he assumed were more of the creatures.

Nadia sneaked in past the rats and flung a slingstone with light on it at the other end of the room. Now Brother Frank and Gruell could see they were indeed fighting more of the small critters. After a pitched battle, with a blue-capped spellcaster and his bodyguards, the party was victorious.

Amongst the junk in the room were some small treasures and a arcane scroll which Parvati claimed. After an examination, Gruell also got Thog the blue cap.

At this point, it was obvious that the complex had been completely explored. All explored, except for the secret door beyond the mural. Nadia and Parvati kept that bit of information to themselves.

Using ropes and a sling, Ganelon was lifted carefully out of the shaft and back onto the shelf of rock north of the Stone Garden. The party was greeted by the mysterious Paladin who guarded the entrance while they adventured.

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End of Session 4

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	6. Session 5

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Death and Prophecy

by

Rockbender (and small edits by Lady Demoonica Darkmoon)

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Session 5

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After a long, uneventful, slow trip back to Sparburg, the party arrived with snow swirling about them. The local healer was a Divinite Cleric of Pelor named Chriton. Lasrien, Parvati and the Paladin carried Ganelon to see Chriton and Nadia and Brother Frank reported to Castim Brakkai that the mission was a success.

According to Chriton, Ganelon would still need several days of bed rest before he would be all right again. He commended the party for returning his good friend alive. The Paladin then bid the party good-bye and disappeared into the gathering dusk.

Soon, Chriton was casting spells over Ganelon who was beginning to slip into unconsciousness. However, before he could get to sleep, Castim Brakkai burst in (with Nadia and Brother Frank in tow) and wanted to speak to Ganelon alone.

While Ganelon and Brakkai were quietly whispering, Nadia picked up on a single name that Ganelon repeated over and over "Syrrom". Nadia filed that name for future reference. After a while, the pair separated and Brakkai invited the party to a late dinner where he could get their report of their adventure. The characters agreed and split up to do various personal tasks.

Lasrien and Chriton got into a long, boring conversation about potion-making. Parvati and Gruell went to get drinks before dinner. Brother Frank went to replace his destroyed robes.

Nadia borrowed the red and blue caps from Gruell and took them to a friend of hers in town, Jaesona who was Sparburg's resident Divination specialist. She dropped off the caps and one of the stones that she had discovered in the complex to be identified. Finally, she went back home and grabbed her mother's history book and looked up 'Syrrom'. The only reference was to a Divinite temple far to the northeast deep within the City of Spires.

When the group finally met back at the citadel, Brakkai was as good as his word. Lots of real, good food was ready, including a big chocolate cake for Gruell. One by one, the party gave their impression of the trip and the hidden complex in the mountains. Lasrien impressed Brakkai with his descriptions and hand-drawn maps.

When it was revealed that Gruell's shield came from the complex, Captain Brakkai took a long, hard look at it. He offered to have it sent down to the armorer and have it shined up and new leather straps put on, but Gruell didn't want to part with it for even that long. Brother Frank, Nadia and Lasrien noticed that Brakkai was acting kind of odd as he looked at the shield.

During the interview, Nadia describes the painting and implies that she and Parvati have some information that the rest of the party doesn't have. Brakkai pulls them into a side room, and hears about the secret doors and the double trap. He insists that he must know more and promises that he will send the group back with as many detect and neutralize poison scrolls he can find. He also pledges 20 men to assist in manning the outpost. Nadia and Parvati agree to return and explore further.

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End of Session 5

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	7. Session 6

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Death and Prophecy

by

Rockbender (and small edits by Lady Demoonica Darkmoon)

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Session 6

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Brakkai, Nadia, and Parvati rejoin the rest of the party. Brakkai tells them the story of the Syrrom - a site sacred to all Divinites. Supposedly it was found by a Divinite mystic known only as 'The Seer' and it was the scene of a powerful prophecy about the future of both kingdoms. However, the Seer never admitted to anyone where the Syrrom actually was.

About a dozen years ago the story of a Divinite adventuring party started making the rounds. In the story, they joyously admitted to finding a temple matching the Seer's description deep in the Desert of the Unforgiving Eye among the City of Spires. However, Brakkai didn't have any idea whether this story was true or not.

It seemed that the mural described by Nadia and Parvati matched exactly the description of the temple in the story. Even the description of the golden doors was accurate. For this reason, Brakkai was insistent on the complex being held by Brassite hands.

Nadia reminds everyone of the reward money for finding Ganelon and offers to run down to the Burser to get it and put it in her father's safe at the locksmith's shop. The party agrees and Nadia leaves. Lasrien requests a wolf-y bag for Scath, which is granted. Gruell demolishes the cake and takes a quick nap by the fireplace.

As this is going on, night has fallen. Unexpectedly, a bell begins to chime down at the docks. Then the bells began chiming constantly. About a minute later, after Nadia returns with the bag of loot from the Bursar, a guardsman named Private Kasran burst in to inform Captain Brakkai that Zadok is drunk again.

Sighing, Brakkai requests the party's help a little more immediately. Nadia remembers Zadok, a Divinite monk who is normally a fine guy until he drinks one two many. From Kasran's description, Zadok's drunk about ten too many. Brakkai orders a carriage and he and the party pile in.

On the way down to the docks, Brakkai gives the party a little trivia on Sparburg. The way the town is laid out, if you imagined the citadel of the town as the sterncastle, then by the time you got to the ocean, the bowsprit of the wrecked ship in the harbor would be in about the right place and orientation to be the town's "bow".

No one, not even Nadia (who had lived here all her life) had noticed this before. Brakkai mentions this because when Zadok came to the town he told everyone there his vision from the Desert of the Unforgiving Eye. Evidently, the Eye had told him he would 'become the ruler of the city that sails south.'

The carriage pulls up in front of The Old Tankard, a dockside establishment owned and run by a Divinite named Tochda. The front window had already been shattered and four limp figures lie outside and one halfway through the window. Brakkai offers to go first and try to talk to Zadok. Brakkai walks in. CRACK Brakkai exits the window with a broken jaw, flies halfway across the snow-packed street, bounces, and skids to a stop unconscious.

Gruell charged in, followed by Kasran, Parvati and Brother Frank. Lasrien pulls the unfortunate combatants out of harm's way and begins to bandage them. Zadok is a huge man, at least seven feet high and muscular. He is swinging what looks like part of a bench, two-handed at anyone in the bar who looks in his direction - which isn't many people as most have fled or are unconscious on the floor. Shattered tables and chairs offer mute testimony to the man's strength.

Nadia climbs to the roof and lets herself in the roof entrance, then makes her way down to behind the bar area. She notices that Parvati is casting spells and Brother Frank and Gruell are fighting Zadok CRACK! excuse me, Gruell is fighting Zadok as Brother Frank exits the window as Brakkai had done earlier. Nadia notices that Gruell's assault is not doing anywhere near the damage that she should be doing and guesses that Zadok has some kind of damage resistance.

Nadia also notices that Gruell has pushed Zadok into the center of the room under the chandelier - a big, heavy wagonwheel type with light spheres placed on it. With a little work, Nadia works the chain loose holding the light up and it comes crashing down on Zadok and Gruell, knocking Zadok out and flattening Gruell.

However, Nadia forgot to watch her feet and she is tangled in the chain and hoisted up to the ceiling, dangling six feet off of the ground! Gruell pulls herself free of the wagon wheel and she and Lasrien help Nadia down. Everyone (including Brakkai) gets their worst wounds healed and everyone helps load the unconscious Zadok onto the cart. Brother Frank, Lasrien, and Parvati stay for a drink, Kasran takes Zadok off to the drunk tank. And everyone else heads for bed.

While walking past the street where she lives, Nadia notices a commotion in the locksmith's shop. She sneaks over and sees her family celebrating with a couple of friends from the town. Nadia enters and is grabbed by her father, Olin, who tells her he's been awarded a singular honor. He had been working on a project to design the new copper piece for the Kingdom of the Amulets and he won the contest! His design (one featuring Lizard Peak) was chosen and he and the family have gained much honor and some gold from it.

However, all the news was not good, as this meant that he and the family would have to relocate to the neighboring city-state of Red Fern while he was working on the master. He agrees to let Nadia run the shop while the rest of the family makes a temporary move to Red Fern. Olin immediately begins making preparations to leave town tomorrow, as the winter season is beginning and he wants to get the eight-day trip behind them before the truly bad weather hits.

While all this is going on, Gruell is playing with Nadia's six brothers and sisters. They are playing the 'shield game' where a child gets on Gruell's shield and she pitches them into the air and they try to touch the ceiling before Gruell catches them on the shield again. After the game, the kids want to adopt Gruell.

Everyone sleeps as a light snow falls outside.

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End of Session 6

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	8. Session 7

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Death and Prophecy

by

Rockbender (and small edits by Lady Demoonica Darkmoon)

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Session 7

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Sviftmont 16

The next morning, Nadia goes to Jaesona to get the items she had left. The diviner tells her that the stone is a stone of good luck, but he has no idea what the red stone is. The two caps show residual magic, but nothing more than that. She pays Jaesona and heads back to see Captain Brakkai.

Parvati pays a visit to the blacksmith's shop, and gets some practice with the hammer.

When the party gathers to go speak with Brakkai, Private Kasran pulls them aside and informs them about Zadok's ramblings when he woke up. He said:

"You cannot keep me here! I have seen through the haze! The Eye is upon us! I have seen red, then grey, then red again, then ice and a black tide! The Eye has blessed me! This I have seen! I am rewarded and doomed!  
Rant in an odd tongue.  
The fog brings the beginning!  
Four white domes mining the sky! Fire! The earth itself moves and tells me I thirst!  
I hold the ingredients in my hand, but who to give it to? I crawl through the mud and see the Rune of the Dragon!  
Why does the glass move? Why? More ranting until he passed out... again...

Kasran though it was important enough to file a report with Brakkai, and thought the party should hear it also.

Good as his word, Brakkai produces three potions of Neutrallize Poison and three scrolls of the same. After outfitting the party for cold weather travel, Brakkai introduces them to Lt. Alia Ocean who will be leading the 20 troops - armed with short swords and spears and short swords and bows - to fortify the outpost. Nadia, Lasrien, and Alia pour over the hand-drawn maps and talk tactics.

Nadia passed off the stone of good luck to a friend of hers who was a cobbler. She left instructions to create a fake heel inside the boot and put the Stone inside it.

The trip to the outpost went remarkably quickly, with only the biting winds holding the troop back. Upon arrival, the troops set upon gathering firewood and preparing to occupy the outpost. Since they had arrived late in the day, the party decided to wait until morning to try to gain entrance to the Syrrom.

Sviftmont 17

The next morning, while the troops rotated between the cavern and the biting cold outside, Nadia once again contemplated the golden doors of the Syrrom. Climbing up, she quickly reentered the confining room beyond and re-examined the trapdoor in the floor. She found the trap had reset itself during her absence and she disables it again.

Lasrien joins her and the pair opens the door and cast their spells on the noxious yellow gas emanating from below. The gas dissipated and a metal ladder dropping down a natural stone 'chimney' was revealed. Nadia climbed nimbly down, but Lasrien worried about the structural integrity of the ladder.

At the bottom of the ladder was a strange, star-shaped room. It was empty, but looked like at one time there was white paint or whitewash on the walls. The pair moved quietly through the narrow passage to the south east tossing Nadia's slingstone with light on it ahead every ten feet or so.

They reached a four-way juncture and decided to continue east, finding a room much like the one they had dropped into from the ladder, but no other exit in the room. It still had the same white 'paint' remains on the walls, also. They went back to the crossroads and turned south.

After a hundred feet or so, Nadia and Lasrien were faced with a door. Nadia looked it over and pronounced it free of traps. The door slid down and became flush with the floor. Odd. The room beyond was obviously large, quiet and dark.

Meanwhile, upstairs, Brother Frank had taken a turn up on the overlook and noticed something truly unpleasant. Several thousand troops were marching down the Logging Road and they wore the colors of the Land of the Crystal Eye. After watching them march for several minutes, the wide-eyed Brassites and Brother Frank noticed a large contingent of several hundred warriors pealing off from the main force and begin coming up the mountain toward the Stone Garden and the now badly-undermanned outpost.

Brother Frank told Parvati and Gruell to go warn Lasrien and Nadia. Nadia had failed to spike the doors open, so Gruell had to bash them, and Parvati found the switch and the pair crawled into the small room and started yelling down the shaft for the missing two.

Deciding there was no use in retreating to the tunnels, Brother Frank ordered the gathered firewood stacked to provide cover for the archers and ordered the spear carriers to stand firm. Within the hour, the enemy was upon them, and valiant though the defense was, the twenty were all slain. Brother Frank was knocked unconscious and - on the command of the Divinite Captain - was pitched off the 100-foot cliff into the ice-cold stream below.

The room that Lasrien and Nadia had entered was trapezoidal with the door opening at the wider of the two ends. As Nadia stepped across the threshold of the darkened room, a light blazed up on her left. A statue of a human rogue holding a torch aloft was revealed... by magic the torch had lit when she entered. As she moved over to examine the statue, Lasien entered and a light blazed up from his right. Revealed was a warrior figure holding a torch and short sword in his hands. The two torches lit most of the north end of the room, revealing it was 30' high with runes chiseled into the walls about 10' up.

Nadia and Lasrien examined the statues, but found nothing. Nadia moved south into the room and found two more statues representing a cleric (book and torch) and a wizard (wand and torch) in the other two corners. There was a stone table almost against the south wall upon which rested a shiny scroll. While she was walking over to look at the scroll, Nadia stepped on something. It was a heavy gold ring with three dark red stones. Upon closer examination, she saw that each of the three stones were cracked.

The table was about 3 feet high and broad and six feet long. Underneath was the sign of an old, old fire. The shiny scroll proved to be made of copper and rolled up. Lasrien tried to decipher the writings on the wall when Nadia thought she heard shouting from back up the passage.

Hurrying back to the ladder, the pair (at the bottom of the ladder) met up with Parvati and Gruell (at the top of the ladder) and The Situation was shared. Lasrien and Nadia race up the ladder and conferred, but concluded the battle above is lost. Retreating down the ladder, Nadia, Parvati and Lasrien convene in the star-shaped room below. However, when Gruell tried to descend, the rungs of the ladder couldn't handle her weight, and the ladder shattered into many, many pieces. Luckily, however, Gruell was not wounded in the fall.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

End of Session 7

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	9. Session 8

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Death and Prophecy

by

Rockbender (and small edits by Lady Demoonica Darkmoon)

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Session 8

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Retreating back to the room with the scroll, the party got an idea. Building a fire under the table, the party heated the stone tabletop and slowly heated and unrolled the scroll. After Parvati cast read language, revealed was a very cryptic passage:

... "and how shall it end?" spoke the Seer.

A chaos of images ensued: figures emerging from a fiery fog... two titans vying over a village... giant stone flowers... a red mountain with a keep... whiteness stretching on forever capped by four odd hills... the earth buckling... a great thirst and a black tide... a bog with flowers pushing through the snow... a hallowed cave... a dragon reclining on a hill... an unsettling glowing pond... then the same stone flowers and a fade to black...

"Ah, and so that is how it ends!" said the Seer. Then taking time to recline below the flowers of stone as a thorn thoughtfully extended a briar upon which he hung his hat.

After Lasrien copied down the translated prophecy, the party carefully rolled up the scroll for safekeeping. Nadia pushed to explore the northern passage for another exit to the complex, and the others agreed.

Moving back through the sliding door to the north, Lasrien and the group fervently hoped that Scath had escaped into the woods to avoid the battle. Reaching the crossroads, the group moved through the north passage.

Following the curving path north, Gruell's sharp nose picked out a smell that was remarkably like the poison from the first room. Proceeding carefully, the party entered another star-shaped room, one much better preserved than the other two. Whitewash covered the walls and small designs looking like flowers covered the walls.

One point of the star-shaped room was obscured by some rubble on the floor. Also numerous roots from some plant were hanging down. Lasrien approached to try to determine what kind of plant the roots were from, and the roots animated. Reaching out, they grabbed him and dragged him off his feet. Gruell tried to hack Lasrien free with her axe, to little affect. As the other party members attacked the tendrils, Nadia circled around to take a shot at a large root-like mass she had glimpsed through the chaos.

Taking careful aim with her bow, Nadia shot the mass and almost immediately, the plant went limp. None too soon for Lasrien, who was poisoned and hurt badly during the ordeal.

Nadia searched the corner as the others healed Lasrien. She found the remains of a human, long since compost for the plant creature. She did find his pack and clothing and deduced he was a thief. In his backpack she found several trinkets and a well-packed box containing two silver chalices, each marked with a holy symbol. She carefully dropped the box in her backpack and didn't mention it to anyone.

Realizing that there was no way out here, the group returned to the chamber with the statues. While Lasrien tried to translate the runes on the wall, the others searched the walls for a way out. Nadia found one on the south wall behind the stone table. A quick check for traps, and the party was squeezing through a barely two-foot wide passage, moving roughly southwest.

After an interminable crawl through the passage, Nadia saw natural light ahead. Carefully, she looked out the end of the passage and saw the stream that they had crossed to climb up to the Stone Garden flowing about five feet below. The party had emerged some 150' below and 200 feet south of the entrance to the underground complex.

Gruell jumped down into the icy water and ferried the Fortitude-challenged party members across the stream. Looking back, the entrance to the escape tunnel was completely concealed from even Nadia's eyes. The party noted that there was a huge tree with red bark where they came across the stream which would serve as a marker should they ever need to use it.

Hearing noise above, the party quickly hid in the underbrush. Nadia quickly scaled the red-hued tree for a better look. While everyone watched, they saw several Divinite troops around the entrance to the complex. They were looking at something on the ground near the edge. One Divinite, apparently the leader, motioned to the others. They roughly grabbed a small figure from off the ground and unceremoniously flung it off the cliff into the water below. Then, they turned back to their business.

With horror, the party recognized the broken body of Brother Frank floating down the icy stream. Gruell rescued the nearly dead and frozen monk and after retreating further downstream, they revived him. He seemed changed and, after being healed, tried to charge back up the hill to re-engage the Divinites in battle.

Parvati cast color spray to dazzle him and then Gruell clubbed him on the head to knock him out and Nadia tied the unconscious monk up. Slinging him over their collective shoulders, the party decided to race back to Sparburg and (hopefully) deliver news of the advancing army to Castim Brakkai.

Travelling double-time, the party made excellent time back to Sparburg, until, ahead, they saw a Divinite wagon across the road. Nadia walked boldly up to the Divinite guards and proclaimed that they had "caught this Brassite Monk up to no good and they were taking him to Sparburg to the Shroud." The guards bought the story and sent the party on saying that after leaving them as rear guard, the army broke into a forced march.

This news brought gloom to the group, as they now realized they would not get to Sparburg before the Divinite force. However, they soldiered on. About an hour from Sparburg, the party began to notice clouds of smoke coming from the direction of the town.

Realizing that something terrible had happened, Nadia lead the group off the road to the east and through the sparse trees on that side of town. Once within site of the town, the party got even more careful as they observed the damage done to the town and the castle. Even more disturbing to Nadia was that the small copse of trees south of the bridge outside of town had been hewn down. Out of that wood, a makeshift scaffold had been erected and many bodies hung upon it.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

End of Session 8

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	10. Session 9

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Death and Prophecy

by

Rockbender (and small edits by Lady Demoonica Darkmoon)

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Session 9

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Parting from the group, Nadia used the gathering dark to her advantage and slipped closer. Her fears were realized in that Captain Brakkai was hanging dead from one of the trees. Also were a dozen or so other guardsmen and several prominent shop owners. She noticed several Brassites and Divinites that she had known all her life hanging dead on the scaffold.

In addition to Captain Brakkai, among the dead were Afon, her teamster friend; Eman, an elven leatherworker and longtime friend of the Ravenlocks; Jaseona, the Diviner; Traylar, a local carpenter and business partner of her father's; and Joko, the town's glazier who worked near the locksmith's.

While Nadia was away, Brother Frank had woken up. He had noted that they were back in Sparburg, and he also noted that the flags flying above the castle were that of the Divinites. His Lawful nature was enraged at this turn of events and he quietly slipped free of his bonds. Gruell and Parvati attempted to restrain him from charging into town and alerting the Divinites within. However, when he struck and wounded Parvati, Gruell retaliated and slew the monk with a mighty blow from her warhammer. Luckily, none from the town noticed the altercation.

Quietly returning to the party, Nadia noted there were no guards at the bridge into town. Taking Gruell, the pair crossed the burnt and partially smashed bridge and approached the castle. Moving through the shadows to the main gates, Nadia and Gruell heard loud ranting coming from a room high above. It was easy for both of them to recognize Zadok's commanding voice. He was obviously giving orders and Nadia surmised that the invading Divinites had found him languishing in the jail and had freed him.

While Nadia tried to sneak in through a window, Gruell tiptoed to the front gate. She found several hand-drawn pictures tacked to the message board next to the damaged doors. She easily recognized the picture of herself, Nadia, Parvati, Lasrien, and Ganelon. She clapped in enjoyment and took them all to show Nadia later.

Moving into the deserted main floor of the castle, more of Zadok's ranting was heard from above. Gruell moved to a door on the right wall and opened it. Revealed were several surprised Divinite guardsmen relaxing after the battle. They charged Gruell and one-by-one she smashed them down with Nadia taking an occasional potshot with her crossbow.

However, before the pair could defeat them all, Zadok's voice from above thundered: "...and they are HERE! DOWNSTAIRS! The Eye has shown me!" Moments later, the sounds of dozens of more guardsmen prompted Gruell and Nadia's swift retreat. The pair made it across the bridge and into the dark before the guardsmen could spot them.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

End of Session 9

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	11. Session 10

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Death and Prophecy

by

Rockbender (and small edits by Lady Demoonica Darkmoon)

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Session 10

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Sviftmont 17 at sunset

With the day almost gone and the threat of more snow in the sky, the party was in need of shelter. Nadia knew that one of the played-out mines in the area (the unimaginatively named 'Mine Shaft #1') was at least shelter. Upon opening the lock on the door, she remembered that the town used it for the city dump. Several of the party needed a moment or two to convince themselves that the smell was preferable to freezing.

Nadia rigged a simple trap at the door to alert them if anyone came near, and everyone got some well-needed rest.

Meanwhile, several figures were approaching Sparburg from the west. Two of them were approaching from a long trip cross-country across the Orphan Plains from the distant city-state of Yttil. The pair were the brothers (in arms) Hesiciah, a human ranger, and Aldriss, a priest of Kord.

The pair had been travelling for many days across the plains and they were looking forward to spending the night in a bed for the first time in many long days. The pair were acting as couriers, for they carried a box containing messages for several people in town from friends and business partners in distant Yttil.

However, in the darkening daylight, they saw a town with several buildings burning. And smoke was even billowing from the castle to the north of town. The pair decided to lie low until they could sneak into town later that night.

Realizing their quest to deliver the messages was probably ended, Hesiciah opened the box to reveal messages to Captain Brakkai, Olin Ravenlock, and Chriton the Healer.

While they were waiting in the lee of a hill northwest of town, Hesiciah noticed a figure limping towards them clutching a staff. The pair watched as the obviously wounded figure struggled around the hill. Calling for him to halt and identify himself, the figure announced that the Eye had led him to the pair. His name was Chriton, Priest of Pelor and he had been granted a vision that Hesiciah and Aldriss would be there.

Guiding the pair back to his store, Chriton explained that he had been healing the wounded since the attack came. He explained that Brakkai was dead, and Olin Ravenlock had left with his family to live in the neighboring city-state of Red Fern for at least the winter. Hesiciah handed over the message they had brought for him. It was from an old friend of Chriton's in Yttil, another priest of Pelor named Brogri who cautioned him about staying in Sparburg longer than it took to read this letter.

This rattled Chriton who revealed to the pair that they weren't the only ones in the store. Pulling boards from the floor, Chriton revealed the hidden storage area under the store where he had hidden the still-healing body of the ranger Ganelon. The trio lifted him from his hidden place and while Chriton got him ready to travel, Aldriss noticed something on the roof of a nearby building.

The party had not been idle long, just grabbing enough sleep to recover spells, when Nadia decided to go off and do some scouting. At about two in the morning, Nadia took off and stealthily approached the bridge. She noticed that now the bridge was guarded. Two wide-awake guardsmen on both ends were nervously scanning the darkness.

Utilizing her halfling size, Nadia crawled through and under the snowbanks and reached the northeast end of the bridge. She then slipped underneath and began climbing her way across.

About halfway across, her climb was interrupted by a bloody fist which grabbed her hand in the dark! Through what little light filtered through the bridge, Nadia saw with horror the battered, broken, and arrow-riddled body of Private Kasran, Captain Brakkai's right-hand man. He was blue with cold and in a raspy voice told Nadia of the invasion.

According to Kasran, the Divinites didn't act like they had in the past - they had charged in and completely destroyed everyone in their path - Brassite and Divinite alike. He had only survived this long because he had been knocked off of the walls of the castle into the river and had climbed up under the bridge to try to catch his breath.

Nadia looked over the young private. He was not long for this world. She told him of the mission and the outpost falling into the hands of the Divinites. Kasran entreated Nadia to take that information to Red Fern and tell the leaders there about the Divinites invasion. Then his breathing ceased and he spoke no more.

Nadia told the private that he had one last mission to perform, one that would allow her to complete hers. She then pushed Kasran's frozen body into the river with a splash. With the guards looking downstream at the private's slowly sinking body, Nadia made it to the end of the bridge and slipped silently into town.

She made straight for the cobbler's shop and one quick lockpicking job later, had entrance. She quickly located the stone of good luck, but unfortunately, the cobbler hadn't finished her boots. She pocketed the stone and began looking around for a place to re-arm. Springing from rooftop to rooftop, Nadia made it over to the roof of the blacksmith's shop and she had just decided to gain entrance through the chimney, when she noticed movement in Chriton's shop.

Thinking it was Chriton, Nadia tried to get his attention, but instead of the lanky priest exiting his store, two warrior-like figures exited and began sneaking (ineffectually) over to the blacksmith's shop. Nadia chuckled at their pathetic attempts to be stealthy, then she shimmied down the chimney, zipped over and unlocked the door for the pair.

A couple of quick introductions later, Nadia learned that both Chriton and Ganelon were safe, if not at full health. Quickly and quietly the three ransacked the shop finding a greatsword and four scrolls of Identify which Nadia pocketed for Parvati's use. The trio then zipped back to Chriton's and met the priest and Ganelon who was at least now capable of travelling.

Leading the group back across town, Nadia deliberately tried not to look at the burned-out blacksmith's shop that had been her home.

The final hurdle to rejoining the group was the river outside of town. Nadia was afraid of having to swim across the 50' icy river which, right before it poured into the sea was moving rather rapidly. Hesiciah picked up the halfling and carried her across as the group waded through the freezing water.

Meanwhile, Parvati was taking a turn at watching from the door of Mine Shaft #1. Through the dark, she noticed the motley crew approaching and welcomed them into the mine area.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

End of Session 10

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	12. Session 11

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Death and Prophecy

by

Rockbender (and small edits by Lady Demoonica Darkmoon)

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Session 11

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Sviftmont 18, early morning

After the happy reunion with Chriton and Ganelon, Nadia introduced Aldriss and Hesiciah to Gruell, Parvati, and Lasrien. Chriton and Ganelon were distraught to hear of the death of Brother Frank, but glad that the party had accomplished it's mission of finding the outpost's secret.

Next was a quick counsel of war. Ganelon insists that someone go west to Red Fern and alert the Castim there of the invasion. He didn't think that the Divinites would dare march further west, as the weather would be turning terribly bad very soon. However, he doggedly insisted that someone head northeast and spy on the Divinite fortress of Bloodhill six days north of Sparburg.

With several sad glances, the large group broke into two teams. Ganelon, Chriton, Lasrien, and Aldriss would travel to Fort Bloodhill and after recon, would travel through the Forest of Dryok Mow and across the Orphan Plains to Red Fern. Ganelon and Lasrien were also hoping to find signs of Ugly and Scath who had been missing for a long time. The rest of the party, Parvati, Gruell, Nadia, and Hesiciah would sneak back across town and head along the Ridge Highway to Red Fern directly.

Deciding to leave before dawn, Ganelon's group moved out like shadows through the trees. Nadia gave the rest of the party directions to cross the river north of town. She told them of a cave west of town where she would meet them, because she wanted to sneak back into town to create a ruckus and cover their escape.

After bidding good luck to her companions, Nadia slipped into town and created some mischief at the miller's in her wake. She also noticed that two of the warehouses on the waterfront had been quickly converted to barracks for numerous Divinite warriors. Almost caught in the alley between the cooper's and the Old Tankard, Nadia evaded everyone and made it out of town scott free.

Moving westward, Nadia reached the area of the cave. Remembering her geography, she decided to enter through the small tunnel in the back to surprise the other party members. She slipped in and noticed that her friends had been joined. A gnome leading a pony and cart had apparently been using the cave as shelter when they arrived.

Revealing herself, Nadia was introduced to Lafiel, a gnomish bard and her pony, Pudge. Lafiel was hoping to head into Sparburg and spend the winter there, however, the tale of the invasion changed the gnome's mind. Soon, Nadia related, the group should make haste to run the Ridge Highway back to Red Fern. Lafiel was also able to lay to rest a worry of Nadia's: she had met the Ravenlocks early in the morning on the road from Red Fern and they were in good health and spirits and had no idea that the town had been under attack.

Leaving almost immediately, the group began the westward journey. The clouds (which had been threatening for days) seemed to hold off, dumping their loads of snow on the Orphan Plains to the north. Over the next two days, the party keeps to the road, encountering nothing except the odd animal that either ran away quickly, or became dinner.

On Sviftmont 20th, the group reached a crossroads turning south. The sign said the road lead to a town called Seascape. Nadia remembered from local history that it was a dairy village overlooking the ocean to the south. It was a long, uphill road into the mountains, and she had never heard anything exciting about the village, so she urged the party on.

The next few days also passed uneventfully, finally on the 23rd, the party passed another intersection turning south. This one was to 'Plainview'. Nadia remarked that the name sounded like everything the party needed to know, and pushed to move on. The party agreed, and west they continued.

Soon, the gently rising road moved off of the exposed view of the Orphan Plains below and wandered into a more wooded area. Nadia and Gruell were the first to hear it, a low-pitched buzzing in the trees around them.

Suddenly, the air around the party was alive with the buzzing of ten stirges. The bloodsucking pests dove at everyone and after a fierce battle, the creatures lay broken and dying around the party. Gruell had been wounded, as had Parvati, but they were soon healed. Parvati made the observation to Lafiel that sometimes a stirge's left eyes are used as material components, and the gnome proceeded to harvest them.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

End of Session 11

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o 


	13. Session 12

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Death and Prophecy

by

Rockbender (and small edits by Lady Demoonica Darkmoon)

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Session 12

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Moving onward, it wasn't too long before the sound of many, many booted feet was heard ahead. Swiftly, a column of armed men wearing Brassite armor appeared and quickly stopped. Their commander, Captain Aryl, and his second in command, Zaelan, approached the group.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

End of Session 12

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LDD's Note - Session 12 was cut very short due to one of the players getting very sick. 


	14. Session 13

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Death and Prophecy

by

Rockbender (and small edits by Lady Demoonica Darkmoon)

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Session 13

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

The armed men asked the party if they had encountered any stirges - a large aerie of them had been flushed out of an abandoned warehouse in Red Fern and this group of twenty men had been dispatched to make sure they all were destroyed.

Quickly the party compared notes with Aryl about the happenings in Sparburg. All the men were shocked at the event, including the captain. He sent two members of his troop back immediately to Red Fern with this news, then turned to the party.

Mentioning that he could put a good word in for the party with his superior, Aryl asked the group to accompany his force to the town of Plainview to make sure the stirges hadn't tried to roost there for the winter. The group agreed and everyone was soon marching east, then south at the crossroads.

After a hurried march, the war party reached the outskirts of town. There their worst fears were realized: the stirges had come to Plainview. Parvati even blasted one off of the ▒Welcome to Plainview▓ sign with a magic missile. At least 30 of the vile vermin were attacking the town. They were attacking the cattle in the fields, stampeding them in all directions. Their owners were trying ineffectually to stop their attack.

Several were trying to break into several buildings in the town in which townsfolk were hiding. The church of Pelor and the city hall were both under seige from the stirges banging against the windows. Captain Aryl directed half his men to killing the creatures attacking the stock, the others were to rout those in town.

Nadia, Gruell, Lafiel, and Captain Aryl began clearing the vermin from the city hall. Slowly but surely, the group cleared the town of the stirges. Then Lafiel began healing the townsfolk. Gruell in particular was responsible for slaying eight of the beasts.

Meanwhile, Hesiciah, Parvati, Zaelan, and the rest of the troops accounted for another 13 of the creatures. The bodies of the slain vermin were piled in the center of town. The soldiers claimed the snouts of the stirges for the bounty. After a bit of fast-talking, Lafiel claimed the eyes of the beasts for material components.

One of the soldiers was badly wounded, as were several of the townsfolk who gladly accepted Lafiel's offer of healing. However, five of the townsfolk were dead from the attack, as were many of the town's cattle.

As the pile of stirge corpses was solemnly burned in the center of town, the ever-talkative Lafiel began singing her new epic: the Battle of Plainview. The townsfolk were moved by her singing, but were still demoralized from their losses.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

End of Session 13

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o 


	15. Session 14

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Death and Prophecy

by

Rockbender (and small edits by Lady Demoonica Darkmoon)

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Session 14

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

The suggestion by Lafiel and Nadia that the dead cattle be BBQ'd was met with angry voices by the townsfolk, and they quickly changed the subject.

While the party was shown their place at the only inn in town, the Rusty Lantern, Nadia gave the town the once-over. Deciding that the temple looked like the best place, she entered and began looking for valuables. Behind a secret panel, she found a ring and an amulet in a padded box stuffed in the head cleric's room. She pocketed the items and made her way back to the inn.

In the inn, the innkeeper, Lierno, listens as the party tries to bring Captain Aryl up to speed on their recent adventures. However, Hesiciah and Lafiel fail to impress the captain, as does Parvati's natural '1' on Perform: Epic Storytelling (untrained), so it's up to Gruell to tell the story. Both Lierno and Aryl are impressed with her storytelling ability.

Soon, the group is ready for bed and Nadia and Gruell make a quick stop in Lafiel's room. She looks over the ring and amulet that Nadia had just found. By her best guess, the ring looks like a ring of protection and the amulet like it casts cure minor wounds.

Nadia also shows Lafiel the pair of chalices that she found in the northernmost star-shaped chamber in the Syrrom. Lafiel recognizes them instantly as a pair of sacred relics stolen over a hundred years ago in the City-State of Yttil, many days to the north. Lafiel merely tells Nadia that they are magical, however, and not that there is a 10,000 gold piece, no-questions-asked reward for the return of the items to any temple of Kord. Nadia puts the relics, unknowingly back into her pack.

After this, Nadia and Gruell notice that Parvati is having a little trouble getting to bed (it might have to do with the large amount of ale Parvati had drunk downstairs). The pair assist her to her room, then plan some mischief. After they are sure Parvati and Hesiciah are asleep, Nadia opens both rooms and Gruell carries Parvati and puts her in Hesiciah's bed. Barely able to keep from laughing, Gruell and Nadia retire to sleep.

The next morning, Hesiciah wakes first and is completely stumped as to how Parvati ended up there. He manages to get out of bed and dressed before Parvati wakes. Before any trouble starts between the two, they both hear the laughter of Gruell and Nadia next door. They put two and two together and vow revenge against their party members...

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

End of Session 14

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	16. Session 15

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Death and Prophecy

by

Rockbender (and small edits by Lady Demoonica Darkmoon)

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Session 15

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

The party heads downstairs to eat breakfast and get some more news from Lierno. He relates that Captain Aryl has already been in and he's planning to head back to Red Fern immediately.

However, there was bad news in that two of the farmers that were killed defending their herd of cattle from the creatures had a six-year-old child. This left Rhyrlie (or Rye for short) an orphan. The town's mayor - Stevsi - had a long talk with Captain Aryl and it was agreed between them that Rye should travel back with the group and be raised at the orphanage in Red Fern. Aryl commented that Lady Tamby would take care of the boy.

After breakfast, the party gathers with the Red Fern guards. Rye's family owned a huge, heavy cart, which contained the few meager possessions of his family. Mayor Stevsi then presented a small chest of money to Captain Aryl. This represented the value of the farm. Aryl was instructed to hand this over to Lady Tamby to help defray the cost of raising the child.

Rye, a small but wiry boy, eyes red from crying, was lifted up onto the cart beside the wounded guardsman. With little in the way of fanfare, the group began the long trek back to Red Fern.

Noticing the poor boy, Nadia jumps into the wagon with the child and the sleeping guardsman. Using all her acting skill, Nadia convinces Rye that he will have a good life in Red Fern. She even manages to coax a smile out of the kid.

Hours passed and the group reached the crossroads and turned west. After a short stop for lunch, the group passed higher and higher into the hills. The view of the Orphan Plains to the north gave some of the guardsmen cause for concern. Everyone who cast a glance north saw the huge thunderheads carrying a massive snowstorm moving south and west. Even though several folks had misgivings about spending the night on the road, Aryl stood firm. An hour before dusk, Aryl ordered a halt in a stand of trees shielded from the wind.

Aryl set a guard and the party decided to chip in. Nadia climbed a tree during first watch, Gruell took second, and Parvati took third. Nadia and Gruell both had quiet watches, but during them, Parvati had a terrible nightmare. She saw a well-defended keep on a hill. It was in the evening and it was raining heavily. The water washing off of the battlements of the castle had the color of blood. During the dream, she saw several figures hiding in the woods nearby watching the keep. Then she woke up.

Night passes and dawn finally breaks on Sviftmont 24.

Sviftmont 24

After a quick breakfast, the troop moves on. As soon as the group gets a view to the north it is painfully obvious that the 'mother of all snowstorms' is on its way. Captain Aryl predicts that if the group moves at full speed, they will arrive in Red Fern just before the storm hits.

After an almost panicked double time march, the Captain is proved to be right. Topping a rise, the city's walls are revealed a mile below. Relieved, the group marches down to the city gates ahead of the newly upgraded 'grandmother of all snowstorms'.

The city of Red Fern spreads before the group. A high, thick wall surrounds the city on all sides, only broken by a pair of gates and bisected by a swiftly moving river. On the far side of the city, beyond the wall, is a flat-topped hill that overlooks the city. Upon the top of the hill are four odd shaped domes, obviously built, but now covered in the ever-deepening snow.

While Captain Aryl confers with the gate guards, Nadia takes a long look at the city's 30-foot-high stone walls and, on a whim, climbs them. At the top, she spies an inattentive city guard and ties his shoelaces together.

While on the top of the wall, Nadia sees the wagon has been lead inside. Aryl is still talking to the gate guard and she hears Aryl say that 'The big female fighter and the halfling are dressed as Divinites, but they fought valiantly at Plainview', so he would vouch for them. After she hears this, Nadia tumbles off the wall into the back of the wagon on the inside of the walls beside Rye.

Aryl tries not to be surprised by Nadia's sudden reappearance, but fails. After dismissing his troops, he leads the cart (and Rye and the party) through the city's winding streets. After crossing a bridge, and winding past several empty fountains, he stopped in front of an old house with warm light spilling out onto the slowly falling snow. Lifting Rye down, Aryl picked up the small chest and took Rye's hand in the other and walked up to the front door and knocked.

At this point, Nadia slipped up beside Rye and whispered 'Come with me'. She helped him slip his hand out of his mitten, and the pair zipped out down the street to the north. Parvati noticed the pair leaving, but was unable to stop them.

Holding fast to Rye's hand as she ran, Nadia remembered that her father had said that they were going to try to rent out the apartments above 123 Quarrier Street in Red Fern. After a breathless search, the pair found a street sign proclaiming they had arrived. Nadia asked a passerby where 123 1/2 Quarrier Street was. "Right behind you" was the terse response.

Turning around, Nadia found that 123 Quarrier was a bakery. A set of stairs lead up to a door and a few knocks later, the door was flung open and the Ravenlocks were reunited.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

End of Session 15

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	17. Session 16

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Death and Prophecy

by

Rockbender (and small edits by Lady Demoonica Darkmoon)

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Session 16

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

For a few minutes, Nadia couldn't say anything as her mother and father were so overjoyed to see her. Word had reached them about Sparburg's fate, and they were incredibly relieved that Nadia and Gruell had made it out. Nadia introduced Rye and sent him off to play with her brothers and sisters while the adults caught up.

Olin and his wife were dumbstruck at the news of the town and wept at the news of the deaths of their friends and neighbors. Nadia was in the middle of relating how Rye came to be with her, when there was a knock from down the stairs. "We need to adopt Rye" Nadia said to her surprised parents as she skipped down the stairs to open the door.

After Nadia and Rye raced off, the door was opened by a distinguished older lady wearing a red coat. Captain Aryl then noticed that Rye was gone. Parvati, Gruell and Lafiel noticed that the pair were looking around futilely for the youngster and Parvati chimed in that Nadia had grabbed him and they had run north. Lady Tamby grabbed her umbrella to ward off the snow and Captain Aryl offered his arm to steady her and the pair began walking north to Quarrier Street.

After finding the residence and knocking, the pair were admitted to the Ravenlock's home. More happiness ensued as the Ravenlock kids grabbed Gruell and started a new round of the shield toss game.

Nadia was introduced to Lady Tamby and noticed immediately that she was wearing a small hexagonal brass amulet pinned over her heart. She knew immediately that she was in a very special company. The Kingdom of the Amulets gets its name from a very special honor bestowed on its citizens who epitomize good qualities in their city-state.

Once a year, a Castim may take nominations for the awards that are rarely doled out. The lucky recipient is given the title 'Lord' or 'Lady' and is universally respected throughout the Kingdom. Nadia learned that Lady Tamby earned her Amulet by opening her ancestral home to the city's orphans many, many years ago. Now over 30 children call her 'mother' and the city-state prizes her for her dedication to others.

The group of adults now looked over to the children playing with Gruell. They witnessed that Rye seemed right at home with the Ravenlock children and Olin sighed. He told the captain and Lady Tamby that it didn't seem right to separate them now, and said his family would adopt Rye.

Lady Tamby was pleased at Olin's big heart and blessed him and his family's decision. Captain Aryl then handed the small box of money to Olin and told him that the city guard would buy the boy's wagon at a fair price and he would deliver the money the next day. Olin agreed and everyone shook hands.

While Nadia's mother tried to come up with a place for Rye to sleep, Olin saw the captain and Lady Tamby out along with the other party members. Nadia grabbed her youngest brother who had been trying to make eye contact with her all evening. From Arturo, Nadia finds out that Red Fern is a veritable wonderland of ways to get into trouble. He reveals that there's an underground complex at least fifty feet below ground that's being used as a sewer, but there's access points everywhere. He also tells Nadia that most of the dried up fountains have a secret door in them that lead to this underground maze.

Nadia rushes Arturo off to bed as her father comes back upstairs. Olin tells Nadia that the captain wants to see her and the rest of the party at the citadel (called Four Flags) tomorrow about adding them to the city's guard roster. Nadia says that Aryl had basically promised the group at least room and board for the winter, and relief showed on Olin's face. He had been worried about how he could bunk the party in their (relatively) small apartment.

Nadia then collapsed into a chair and feigned sleep until everyone else drifted off. Then, she rose, let herself out, and proceeded to gain entrance to several homes on the street. She silently rearranged numerous things in those homes to make it look like they had been ransacked for loot. After 'confusing' several houses and businesses, Nadia returned and fell asleep for real.

Sviftmont 25

The next morning, the group pushed their way through the newly fallen snow to Four Flags to meet with Captain Aryl. He received them warmly and provided breakfast. Gruell was truly interested in the new confection: doughnuts. Aryl told the group that he could put them on as standard guards at standard pay, or he could put in a word with Castim Waldron and make them 'Troubleshooters'.

To further explain, the captain had to delve a little into the history of Red Fern. Apparently, the city was built around the remains of a dwarven city that had been destroyed in a calamity centuries before. When the humans moved into the area, there was little left of the city but the exterior walls, proof of the superior dwarven engineering.

Inside the walls, only piles of rubble remained. After the city was cleared - a process that took decades - the remains of fountains were discovered, many fountains placed all over the city. Examination of them revealed that each fount had a secret or concealed door leading underground.

As people began building homes, more passages appeared. Most were covered with grates and whatever was below was turned into a storm drain to keep the city from being flooded. For the first years, nothing bad came of this.

Also, Aryl mentioned, that the Walking River flows through the city's northern wall and out through the southern wall. Since the city was retaken, special gates were built in both areas to keep foes from coming in those avenues. However, it still allows access for the fish that keep the city fed in lean times. Apparently, the river didn't originally flow through the city. Perhaps, he surmised, it was part of the calamity that ran out the dwarves.

Aryl continued "'what does that have to do with us?' you are all thinking." Well, about fifty years into the refounding of Red Fern, things began to happen. Strange lights and sounds and smells began to come up from the sewers. Also, rumors that thieves and brigands were using the sewers as a hideout made the city fathers worried. They ordered that the town guard make the cleaning out of the sewers a priority.

Thus was born the troubleshooting branch of the town guard. Groups are sent to clear out areas of the sewers and report back on what they found. Amazingly, the first few groups sent down reported that there was a complete complex underground. Obviously of dwarven make, but obviously ancient. And full of strange and amazing things.

Most of these things ate the first guardsmen. But the treasures brought up form the undercity kept exciting the appetites of the guards who devised elaborate methods of keeping track of methods to divide the wealth. Most now use the winter months to do their troubleshooting, since the summer the help is needed in the city.

Parvati mentioned the four odd hills above the city on the western hill. Aryl told the group that they are known as 'the Mills' and are also part of the ancient, dwarven, city, but no one has yet divined their use or purpose.

For many years the system has worked and in the last hundred or so years, many more areas below the city have been explored, mapped, and - in some cases - reclaimed by the city. Several underground areas now serve as places to store foodstuffs and such. But it is still dangerous and many areas remain uncharted, so Troubleshooting is still voluntary.

Aryl explained that all items found by the troubleshooters may be divided however they wish. However, anything with writing on it must be turned over to the town's college where it will be copied and returned to the finders - unless the troubleshooters decide to sell it, in which case the college gets first chance to buy it.

Aryl then asked if troubleshooting sounded like something the group was up for - and the three immediately agreed. The captain then told them that he had to set up a meeting for the three to meet Castim Waldron before they could be made official. He asked for the three to meet him back at Four Flags after lunch, when the meeting would take place.

Parvati tried to pester him with questions, but Aryl deflected most of them. He directed her to the college - and a professor named Cazie who was in charge of all that had been yet learned by the troubleshooter's efforts. He then left to arrange the meeting later.

Seeking answers to her questions, Parvati took off for the college, and after a few false starts, managed to get to talk to Professor Cazie who provided her with the lists of creatures and weird things that had already been found in the underground area. She got so engrossed, she almost forgot the after-lunch meeting.

Nadia and Gruell had a different tact. They had passed several of the dry fountains, now filled with snow, in their trek to Four Flags. Nadia chose the closest one and began her own investigation. Hopping into the fountain, it took but a few moments of searching to find the secret door. A heavy stone block slid back on grooves to reveal a dark shaft dropping straight into darkness.

Some quick rope work later and Gruell was on her way down. Sixty feet below, she landed with a splash in about three feet of water. Nadia untied the rope, dropped it, and yelled 'catch!' to Gruell. The half-orc easily caught her friend and the pair began exploring.

A long north-south passage stretched in both directions. It was made of cut stone bricks and one side 'the northbound' was four feet higher than the 'southbound'. In the 'southbound' lane, water sluggishly moved northward with bits of garbage and foul-smelling things floating in it. Gruell could have sworn a couple of eyes surfaced for a moment and regarded the pair.

Moving south, the pair reached a bend that turned them east. Keeping close to the high wall, they observed numerous shafts in the 20' high ceiling above the lower lane. From all of them water dripped, and the occasional cascade of snowflakes showed that these were the drains lining the streets of Red Fern above.

Moving silently, the pair rounded another turn to the north and were greeted by another long corridor. Moving silently north, the pair saw the passage turn west again, and they both saw torchlight flickering on the northern and eastern walls around the corner.

Nadia used her mirror to look around the corner and saw the passage continued for about a hundred more feet to a huge set of double doors on the north wall. In front of the doors, was a heavy wooden wall -- defended by human guards with swords and spears.

Nadia determined that the guards weren't paying too much attention to the tunnel, so she brazenly sneaked down the passage and made it to within twenty feet of the wall before she was seen. The guards panicked and the most senior member asked her who she was. She responded that she was a troubleshooter and had come in through one of the fountains and she wondered where she was.

The guards, lead by a young warrior named Startal, were confused at first, but soon began talking earnestly with the halfling and completely missed Gruell. The half-orc, who apparently had been taking sneaking lessons from the halfling, sneaked all the way down the passage and the guards didn't notice her until she was standing right beside Nadia. Then the guards really did panic until Nadia told them that this was "her friend, Gruell".

Earlier, Nadia and Gruell had been seen entering the undercity through the fountain entrance. The story quickly got back to Captain Aryl and by the time Parvati had returned, he had already dispatched a group to go get the pair. However, he took Parvati to meet Castim Waldron.

The Castim was a small man with short-cropped black hair who quickly outlined the rights and responsibilities of the Troubleshooter's group. He complimented Captain Aryl on his effective handling of the group and welcomed Parvati and her companions to it. Parvati requested once again access to the lists of weird things that had been found in the undercity, and the Castim gave her a scroll giving her access to those books in the college.

Parvati continued to pester the Castim and Captain Aryl with questions about the layout of the undercity. Waldron mentioned that not all areas are truly stable. Aryl continued that part of the area is under the river that flows through the city. Several troubleshooting teams had reported that they had opened stuck doors and been washed downstream until they could get free of the current.

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End of Session 16

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	18. Session 17

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Death and Prophecy

by

Rockbender (and small edits by Lady Demoonica Darkmoon)

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Session 17

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

After the meeting, Aryl took Parvati over to one of the blacksmiths adjacent to Four Flags owned by a former guardswoman named Caresha. At his command a heavy door was unbolted and unbarred and after it had swung open, out came Startal leading an amused looking Nadia and Gruell. The double doors in the undercity had lead to an area already cleaned out by troubleshooters and the entrance to that section was through the basement of the blacksmith's.

Now reunited, the group made plans. Aryl would find three current troubleshooters to act as assistants and torchbearers for the group. He would also confer with the college and find an area below the city for the characters to begin clearing. He told them that no complete map of the undercity exists, only the partial maps made by troubleshooters. A complete map is being created slowly as more areas are cleared and explored and mapping the areas they enter is almost as important to the troubleshooters as clearing the area of monsters.

Also, Aryl commented, creatures keep finding their way into the undercity. There was an extra bonus for finding these entrances and reporting back to the city guard their locations. The guard didn't want to be in the position of not knowing that an army of monsters had gained access to the city through the undercity. Everyone wanted that particular nightmare mitigated.

The next morning, the trio met again with Aryl who introduced them to their three 'torchbearers' Athun, Bertrum, and Cedric. After a quick negotiation session with the three, Captain Aryl revealed their mission. He produced a map leading from the entrance under Traytany's Stables, to 'Area 8'. Nadia, Gruell, and Parvati assented that they were ready to begin immediately, so Aryl lead the six to the stables. Parvati commented that if Hesiciah or Lafiel showed up, to send them down also.

A huge trapdoor in the floor was opened, and a rope ladder dropped. Aryl and the others shouldered huge backpacks full of torches, rope, lantern oil, and other assorted dungeoneering equipment. A sequence of passwords were memorized by the group to get back through the trapdoor, and the group was on its way.

Nadia instructed Athun to drop a lit torch to illuminate the area below. He did, and Gruell climbed down quickly followed by the rest of the group. Revealed by the torch was an east-west passage much similar to the one Nadia and Gruell had already transversed. The high side was along the north wall and the water in the low side slowly flowed west.

Moving west for several hundred feet, they approached the area marked on the map where the secret door should be. Nadia began searching and the instant she touched the wall, the blocks slid back under her touch and a huge 10 by 10 section 'folded' back into the wall. Nadia looked carefully over the mechanism that moved the wall, and was completely incapable of figuring it out.

Moving in through the entrance, the party found itself in a passage leading east and west, though only a ten-foot wide passage. Almost immediately in front of the secret door was a wooden door in the north wall. Nadia moved to the door and checked for traps. Finding none, she tried it and it opened inward easily to her touch.

The room beyond was 30 by 30 and it was a wreck. Barrels containing spoiled foodstuffs were spilled in every corner. A rusting iron maiden leaned against the west wall. A broken, but repairable bellows rested near the iron maiden. There was a door in the center of the east wall and one on the north wall off center to the west.

Nadia quickly gave the room the once over, but didn't find anything. She moved to the eastern door, listened and heard nothing. She moved to the north door and listened and heard something sounding like stone moving against stone. She checked for traps, found none, and opened the door inward and to the left.

A passage was revealed moving east to west again. The eastern passage terminated almost immediately and there was a door in the north wall. To the west, the passage turned north and the halfling could see a door in the west wall. Both doors were wooden and closed.

Moving east, Nadia heard the stone on stone sound coming from behind the door to the north. It opened inward and to the left, but it felt like something was pushing it from the other side. Gruell hammered on the door, but it wouldn't open. Then, with a shout, Grull's hammer shattered the door to pieces and out twisted the sinuous form of a huge insect that could barely squeeze its bulk through the door.

Spells flew, Gruell hammered and Nadia stabbed at the insect's body. Finally, the creature bit down on Gruell, wounding her. In retaliation, Gruell bit the bug back, shocking the creature and the rest of the party.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

End of Session 17

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	19. Session 18

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Death and Prophecy

by

Rockbender (and small edits by Lady Demoonica Darkmoon)

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Session 18

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

When the creature finally fell, another leaped forward and the party was once again in combat. Nadia tumbled under the belly of the beast and threw a knife into its softer (?) underbelly, causing the beast's acid-like blood to spill all over the Halfling. After many tense moments, the second insect was dead, and the party commenced healing themselves.

Picking her way carefully back into the room, Nadia found several chunks of precious metals that had been dug up by the creatures. There was also a dark tunnel apparently created by the creatures that led down at a sharp angle. However, before anyone could think of exploring, the tunnel, damaged by the recent combat and the death throes of the insects, collapsed raising a cloud of dust into the air.

The collapsing room kicked up plenty of dust that drove everyone back into the room with the iron maiden. While waiting for the dust to settle, the group began to hear a familiar voice and moments later, Lafiel the bard joined them. She had gotten the message and had decided to join the party in the undercity to lend her assistance.

To pass the time, Nadia once again looked over the eastern door. It opened easily to her touch and a short ten-foot hall later was another door. This one was also made of wood, but the lower half of the door appeared stained by water.

Remembering the Castim's warning about some of the rooms being flooded, Parvati urged caution. Nadia discovered the door was locked, but it didn't slow her down long. Unfortunately, the door was stuck, but with a little persuasion from Gruell, that didn't last long either.

The room was huge, stretching north to south and it was filled with a thick growth of algae on the floor. On the far wall, centered north to south, was a fountain dripping some kind of black liquid onto the floor.

Nadia moved over the spongy algae, testing it's properties. She discovered that she could run and slide in it, leaving a trail in the goop. Lafiel moved to get a closer look at the fountain and discovered that it was filled with a black powder or ash that drizzled onto the floor. Also, she noticed that the algae didn't grow in the small area that the ash fell onto.

It was Parvati that noticed that when Nadia moved to the center of the room, the green carpet of goo began to move away from the wall and move toward the center of the room. She called out a warning to Nadia who suddenly realized she was up to her ankles in the stuff. Quickly it covered her to her waist.

Sensing something was wrong with her friend, Gruell charged over to help the halfing. In a panic, Nadia told her friend, "Don't chop!" Gruell, unsure of what to do, grabbed Nadia and pulled her out of the gathering goop and as she wrenched her friend free she retreated back to the door.

Trapped between the growing mass of green, Lafiel retreated to the fountain and watched the carpet soak up all the algae and become a hulking mass of plant matter standing six feet tall and as many broad, with long, think arms and huge green eyes.

Lafiel dove into the fountain to hide and discovered that the ash hurt! It felt like she was drying out. She realized that was why the algae wouldn't grow under the fountain. With a great effort, she crawled out of the fountain and flopped to the floor.

Meanwhile, Gruell had drawn her warhammer and shield and was warily eyeing the creature. With a roar, she tried again and again to wound it with her weapon, but the creature kept reforming after every blow. Finally, Gruell heard Lafiel's weak description of the fountain's contents and decided on a risky plan. Dropping her warhammer and lowering her shield, Gruell scooped as much of the wide-eyed creature into it as she could and manhandled the beast into the fountain.

There was a huge bang and rush of air as the beast was consumed by the moisture-destroying ash, leaving the fountain empty. Gruell had been thrown all the way across the room and was flat on the ground next to the only thing left of the creature: its great green eyes. Gruell picked them up and added them to her backpack full of oddities.

Having had enough of the room, the group returned to the passage where they fought the insects. Then, the party moved west, then north, ignoring the door to the west for the moment. Moving to the passage heading north, they saw a door on the eastern wall at the end of the hall.

Nadia noticed that this door, like the others in the complex was made of wood, but this one looked like it had gotten a lot of use in the past. Not knowing if this was a good or bad thing, the rogue looked for traps, and after not finding any, opened the door.

Reveled was an odd room, even by the standards of a bunch of seasoned adventurers. First and foremost, the room contained a statue of a dwarf reclining on a couch or bed. The dwarf was male, dressed in nightclothes, and looked to be in the middle of waking from a terrible nightmare. The most disturbing part of the statue was the dwarf was tied down by ropes of stone that were part of the statue itself. The dwarf had halfway risen and had thrown off some of the ropes away from its left arm, which was reaching forward across his body towards the right side of the bed. The sightless eyes and fear-etched face made everyone viewing it shudder.

Lafiel and Parvati looked over the statue and proclaimed it actual stonework, not a petrified dwarf. "After all," said Parvati, "a turn to stone effect wouldn't have turned the bed to stone." Lafiel agreed and commented that the craftsman who created this statue was a master craftsman.

It was Nadia who noticed that at the end of the 'bed' was a partially hidden chest. Even though the chest was part of the statue, Nadia decided to examine it for traps. She discovered that there was a secret drawer concealed in the statue, centered on the 'lock' on the 'chest'. With a little work, she managed to get it to slide out, revealing a new threat.

Within the drawer was a pool of darkness. Absolute darkness. Darkness which oozed and sloshed around like a living pool of black oil. Nadia jumped back as it flowed over the edge of the drawer and the darkness followed her.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

End of Session 18

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	20. Session 19

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Death and Prophecy

by

Rockbender (and small edits by Lady Demoonica Darkmoon)

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Session 19

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

As everyone else backed away, Lafiel and Nadia tried to communicate with it, but in the end, it attempted to engulf the gnome and she was forced to use alchemist's fire to stop it.

Inside the drawer were many, many coins of an antique dwarven mint. Also, there were two small scroll cases that ended up in the party's treasure. Inside each was a scroll bearing the spell shillelagh.

At this point, there was some commotion from down the hallway and a quick peak by the torchbearers revealed that more troubleshooters were on their way. Soon, Hesiciah was back with the party and he introduced Aengus, a dwarven cleric that had just been transferred by Captain Aryl into the group.

Bolstered by the new additions, the group set out to continue through the northern door when Nadia pulled up short. The hair on the back of her neck was rising and she began looking for the trap she knew was there. She found it, a pit trap that extended under the door to the other side. She found the hidden catch and, on a whim, triggered it. Without a sound, the floor snapped down and everyone peered over the edge. It was a long way down.

Nadia thought she glimpsed something, so she uncoiled some rope and rappelled down. At the bottom she found the body of a gobinoid creature that had been carrying a large mace which lay beside the body. As she looked under the body at the two-foot spikes that pierced its flesh, she noticed something unsettling. Fresh blood was dripping from the corpse. She realized the creature couldn't have been more than a couple of minutes dead - perhaps the trap had dropped it in here moments before the party had opened the other door.

Also, Nadia found a scrap of paper in the creature's hand. It was a rudely drawn map. Nadia quickly recognized the room above, and decided to keep the parchment to herself. Two rooms had writing associated with them: a small room to the north read "Diritza's Folly", and the other read: "Malorn and Melina". Gathering what valuables she could strip from the dead, she tied off the mace to the end of her rope, and signaled Gruell to pull her up.

One Gruell-powered elevator ride to the top, Nadia shared the finds with the group. She then disarmed the trap and the floor snapped back into place. Once through the door, the rogue noticed the passage did match up with her map and she proceeded to the door on the west wall. A quick search for traps indicated none and the wooden door swung open at her touch.

The room beyond was at least as big as the one with the algae monster. However, this room fairly reeked misery as it became obvious this was at one time a prison. Casting their eyes across the numerous cells, it became obvious that they were more like cages suitable for wild animals, yet under close examination the telltale signs of humanoid habitation were revealed. Straw mattresses, small scratches on the wall, and other signs meant that large numbers of humans, dwarves, elves, or the like were at one time imprisoned here.

Hesiciah's watchful eye noticed several newer sets of tracks leading through the detritus scattered across the floor. Following them, they lead through the room and to the western door. Here, they walked around a while, then exited. Nadia had seen this sort of thing before, and moments later identified the pit trap - identical to the one she had just bypassed minutes before.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

End of Session 19

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	21. Session 20

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Death and Prophecy

by

Rockbender (and small edits by Lady Demoonica Darkmoon)

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Session 20

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The pit trap disarmed, the group moved through the door. Again, the hallway beyond matched Nadia's map and she asked the rest of the party to stay behind a moment. Quietly, she moved north and listened at the first door along the west wall. Beyond, she heard what sounded like a low whine as if metal were grating on metal or bone at high speed. Now confident, she rejoined the party.

Now, Nadia asked Lafiel if she had heard any legends about a 'Malorn' or 'Melina'. Lafiel thought for a moment and revealed that over a hundred years ago a group of dwarves moved into a series of caves south of the Ramlent Wastes - nominally an area controlled by the Kingdom of the Amulets north and west of the City-state of Yttil. They moved in and were mostly ignored by the Brassites until it was learned they venerated an evil deity.

At that point, the militia of Yttil got involved. They ran the dwarves out and scattered them to the four winds. Supposedly, Lafiel related, the dwarves were lead by a female cleric named Melina and her bodyguard named Malorn. But neither of them had been seen for a hundred years or more. Nadia cautioned the party that these very two might be behind that door.

A quick plan of attack was decided upon: Gruell would rip open the door and Hesiciah and Aengus would zip in on either side of the door and hopefully surprise whoever was within the room. Nadia, Lafiel, and Parvati would remain as backup, filling in where needed. Everyone took their positions, Nadia listened one more time (there was no change), and then Gruell grabbed the door handle and pulled with all her might...

... and the handle came off in her hand... Unperturbed, she grabbed the place where the handle had been and proceeded to rip the door off its hinges, setting it up against the far side of the passage. In went Aengus and Hesiciah and then the rest of the party. What they saw disturbed them.

First, the room was approximately thirty-by-fifty, arranged north - south. The door had been in the midpoint of the eastern wall. Another door on the south wall near the western corner was closed and barred. Directly across from the door they had entered were a number of lines in Dwarvish runes carved into the wall.

To the north of the room was a table at which two dwarves were standing, one male and one female. Upon the table were numerous fat candles that were lit and illuminating the many papers laid out. It appeared that the pair were looking over them, but now they were readying their weapons and looking at the PCs.

The last, oddest thing about the room was the ceiling. It looked like thousands and thousands of small gems had been hung from the ceiling all about two feet down, and all had been hung on what looked like piano wire or very thin twine. Lafiel noticed that the odd noise, the odd whine, came from the ceiling.

Then combat commenced! The male dwarf silently charged the party with a war axe, the female followed, but first deliberately knocked two of the candles over and, with horror, the party noticed the papers on the table beginning to burn. Finally, the female dwarf charged, screaming all the way. Starting low, the note kept building, and building, and building, and soon the room reverberated with the sound of thousands of screams.

Gruell clapped her hands over her ears and ran, wailing out of the room. Athun, Bertrum, and Cedric raced after her to make sure she stopped. Everyone else remained in the room, but they were hindered by the terrible sound, which sounded like a million souls in torment.

While Hesiciah took the brunt of the dwarf's charge, Aengus managed to focus long enough to cast create water over the table. With a splash, the candles were extinguished, and the fire was put out. Then, Aengus dropped his crossbow and moved to attack.

Lafiel moved away from the combat to the south and tried to make an end run around to rescue some of the paperwork on the table. On the way, she looked over the dwarven runes on the wall, but only glanced at them and then was gone to the table. Quickly she pulled the papers away from both the remaining fire and the water that was just as readily destroying the pages.

Meanwhile, Nadia and Hesiciah were peppering the dwarves with crossbow bolts while Aengus kept swinging. Lafiel tried to sing a countersong to counter the sound of the screaming, but only succeeded in making the din worse. Twice, then three times Lafiel tried, but the sound got so loud that she couldn't think to sing.

Finally, Hesiciah felled the male dwarf then Nadia's light crossbow dropped the female. However, the horrible sound lingered on, and on, and on. Somehow Lafiel's countersong had magically magnified the length of the noise. Everyone withdrew to the hallway and after twenty minutes, the sound had died down enough that they could reenter the room.

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End of Session 20

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	22. Session 21

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Death and Prophecy

by

Rockbender (and small edits by Lady Demoonica Darkmoon)

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Session 21

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Limiting themselves to hand signals and whispers within the room, the party searched the bodies of the dwarves and the table. Lafiel, still smarting from the failure to control the sound, took pencil and paper and copied the dwarvish runes on the wall, then moved out into the passageway to translate them.

From the dwarves, they acquired two small sacks of gold, several gems, and other miscellaneous gear. Nadia also found a necklace around the neck of the female. It resembled a rolled-up scroll. However, the bottom part of the scroll (which hung down) was partially open and looked torn, with shreds of the paper falling away. Lafiel and Aengus declared that it looked like a holy or unholy symbol, since most clerics keep their symbols close to them. Nadia pocketed it and kept it out of sight. As soon as no one was watching, she slipped it into Lafiel's pack.

Lafiel read the translated runes as follows:

And I see the children of the fiery fog before me Resolutely And I see the Ground arise against them Ineffectually And I see the great worms of the earth attack them Painfully And I see the darkness failing to cover them Spectacularly And I see their enemies helping them Unwittingly And I see two of the Chosen falling before them Noisily And I see them reading these words Unknowingly And I see one of their number perishing Pitifully

Quickly, Nadia gave her 'reading' of the translation. Obviously, the party was the 'children of the fiery fog'. The 'ground arising' was the algae monster in the room with the fountain. The 'great worms of the earth' were the giant insects. The 'darkness' was the black oil that Lafiel incinerated. Nadia balked at the next stanza, as she hadn't told the party about the scrap of map she had found on the goblinoid. The 'two of the Chosen' obviously referred to the two dwarves they had fought in this very room. Lafiel jerked her head at the next line and remarked that until now she had been 'reading these words Unknowingly'.

The last line worried everyone in the party. So far the runes had been right on and none of them wanted to die 'pitifully'. Nadia mentioned that, of those that had debarked from the Red Cloud, Parvati was the only one left in the party. Parvati, however, indicated that Lasrien and Scath were probably still alive and she fervently hoped they had made it through the blizzard.

Then, Lafiel tried to find a way to examine the small gems hanging from the ceiling. With some help from Gruell, she got close enough to see - to her horror - that they weren't gems at all... they were teeth. Thousands of teeth -- from hundreds of different creatures. As she cast her eyes around, she saw the teeth of humans, elves, dwarves, goblinoids, and even a few fangs apparently from lizardfolk.

Her head swimming, she tried to imagine what someone would do with such a grisly collection. She reasoned that using the teeth or tongues of creatures could enhance sound-based magics, but to make such a din as had been witnessed during the fight, the teeth would have had to have been extracted... in moments... of intense pain... and suffering.

With a sense of foreboding, she quickly cast detect magic and found that the teeth radiated both evocation and necromantic auras. Lafiel suddenly had the image of thousands of beings, strapped down, having their teeth pulled out one-by-one, screaming at the top of their lungs... and it was too much for her gnomish soul. With a shudder, she curled up and was unresponsive for several minutes. It was only much later that she was able to get herself under control.

When she did, her response was immediate. She fastened a sharp knife to her eleven-foot pole and began slashing down the teeth. As each tooth hit the stone floor, she crushed it beneath her boot heel. The other members of the party looked at her quizzically, but she explained that the teeth represented an evil magic item and must be destroyed.

For over two hours Lafiel worked at destroying the teeth. During that time, her mind brought up every bardic tale she had ever heard about evil sound-based items and she finally remembered an old tale that creeped her out even more. Apparently during the ancient past, there was a race of dwarves who followed an evil deity who worked the teeth of their foes into musical instruments. Lafiel shared this tale with the party and surmised that the group had found that particular dwarvish clan.

When the grisly work was done, Lafiel decided to keep one of the teeth. She thought that this would be invaluable to prove to others what the party had found. She wrapped it up carefully and put it in her backpack.

After this, the party left the noisy room and moved back into the hall. Nadia steered the party back through the room with the cages and then north, passing the door on the eastern wall without a glance. After peeking down the corridor to the east, Nadia decided that the party had better rest for the night.

While everyone else began preparations to bed down in the hallway, Athun and the other torchbearers were shocked. Previously, the groups they were in retreated at the end of the day back to the city above. With a terse response of 'we're sleeping here' the matter ended and the trio bedded down as best as they could.

Sviftmont 26

That night, Hesiciah took third watch. He couldn't sleep and in the darkness, if he strained, he thought he could hear the sound of stone scraping on stone. Then, at one point, he could have sworn he heard the sound of weeping, though it sounded really, really far away. At one point, he awakened Nadia, but her tired halfling ears couldn't hear anything.

The next morning, after a quick look at her map, Nadia paced around the room labeled 'Diritza's Folly'. Leading the party around the corridor, she examined both doors. She detected no trap, but she wanted to take all precautions. She asked Parvati to cast detect magic and she did. According to the wizard, the door was 'infused with chaos magic' and she was not sure what it would do.

Confident that nothing would happen to her, Nadia opened the door. A huge flash filled the hallway and a cloud of sparkling powder blanketed everyone. The sticky powder clung to everyone including the torchbearers. Hesiciah, apparently afraid of the lingering affects of the powder, washed himself off quickly with a wineskin of ale.

After all this chaos, everyone peeked into the small room. Perhaps twenty by twenty, the room's only ornamentation was a huge, inlaid mural of a flower with large orange petals. This mosaic was perhaps 15 feet across, and the center of the flower took up about a three-foot circle. The entire flower looked like tiny pieces of cut glass embedded in the floor.

At this point Hesiciah commented that the flower wasn't the only thing in the room. The ranger saw a figure kneeling at the center of the flower. He strained his ears and could hear the same far-away crying that he heard during the night. Everyone else looked at him oddly, but his description was so clear, they took another look, but no one could make anything out except, perhaps, an odd shimmer in the air.

Nadia and Lafiel entered to examine the flower a little closer, but everyone else stayed out. Both carefully avoided the center of the flower. Nadia's expert eye noticed something odd about the design, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Lafiel's examination merely concluded that the flower looked remarkably like the symbol of the Land of the Crystal Eye.

During their examination of the room, Hesiciah noticed that the kneeling figure lifted her head as the halfling and the gnome were searching. At one point, Lafiel walked through the prostrate form and Hesiciah feared that it was about to attack Lafiel. However, the vaporous figure did not more than glare at the gnome as she left the room.

Nadia's examination of the flower had been fruitless. She had tried everything in her considerable bag of tricks and been unable to figure out what seemed odd about the inlaid floor. As she passed her hand between the petals, she thought she felt air moving. She called out to Lafiel and asked if the name 'Diritza' meant anything to the bard. Lafiel wracked her brains and the only thing she could remember was that, in the Underdark, the 'diritza' was the neutral zone between warring factions. In affect, it was the passageway between those at war. Nadia filed this for future reference.

At this point, the party decided to move on. They passed south, to another door that they previously had passed. Trying it, it opened easily revealing a twenty-by-forty room laid out north to south. About ten feet up was a rickety metal catwalk that surrounded the room on all sides. Far on the south wall, reached by the catwalk, was a niche in the wall that appeared to be empty.

Also visible from the northern door were three other doors - one in each wall. It was quickly guessed that the western door lead to an unexplored door that they'd already passed. However, the other two - in the southeast corner - lead to parts unknown. Also, also visible in the room was a huge pile of trash swept clumsily into the center. Gleams came from it as the torchlight danced across it's dusty mass.

While everyone moved in to examine the trashpile, Nadia eyed the short, metal ladder leading from the center of the north wall up to the catwalk. She surmised that her slight build would allow her to climb up and then she could navigate the shaky structure to the niche on the far wall. Carefully, she climbed the ladder...

...and CRASH! Before she made it halfway up the ladder, it pulled free and dragged the entire structure down in mountains of sharp, rusted shards. Luckily, she was able to tumble away from the damage, but not from the shocked looks of her companions. She nonchalantly moved across the room to check out the pile of trash before she attempted to climb the wall to the niche.

The search of the trashpile was much more productive. Gruell moved what looked like the headboard of a bed and found a sack of 360 silver. Nadia also uncovered an intact hourglass under a rotting sack of flower.

Finally, Nadia tired of sifting through the mess and headed towards the south wall. Picking her way over the remains of the catwalk, she quickly scaled it and a short jump up left her standing in the niche. It was about the size of three water barrels stacked on top of each other. A quick examination lead Nadia to a loose stone that she pushed. From below there was an audible 'click' from the southern door. Gruell broke apart the remains of the catwalk so the party could access it, and it opened easily at their touch.

Rejoining the group on the ground, Nadia peaked through the door. A short passage to the south lead to a door on the west wall. Opposite the door, another passage led off into darkness. Moving to the door, Nadia attempted to open it. It resisted. Mightily. So Gruell attempted to open it with her warhammer. With an ear splitting smash the door vaporized, throwing debris into the room with the statue of the dwarf on the couch.

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End of Session 21

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	23. Session 22

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Death and Prophecy

by

Rockbender (and small edits by Lady Demoonica Darkmoon)

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Session 22

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Having ascertained that the map they were drawing was still correct, the group headed west into unfamiliar territory. At the end of the west-east hallway, another door was revealed on the eat wall. Just south, another door was seen perhaps twenty feet away. Nadia tested the first door and it opened at her touch.

Revealed in the light, was a thirty-by-thirty room. North about twenty feet away was another door, perhaps leading back into the room with the catwalk. On the north wall was a large wardrobe and chest of drawers. To the northeast was a seven-foot-tall screen, which totally concealed the corner of the room. The floor was littered with pieces of leather. Closer examination revealed that the leather was not parts of armor, but restraints.

Moving into the room, Hesiciah and Gruell headed for the screen and Nadia moved to the wardrobe while everyone else remained on guard. Nadia's search of the wardrobe turned up nothing that caught her eye, so she moved to search the eastern wall for secret doors. After some prompting, Gruell lifted Hesiciah up so he could peek over the screen. When he did, he was surprised by the sight of himself peeking over the screen. A huge, gilded mirror was angled in the corner and he had caught his own image in its surface.

Hopping down, he and Gruell pushed the screen aside against the north wall. The mirror was exquisite and would not look out of place in a noble's dressing room. Lafiel immediately came over and began directing Athun and Bertrum in how to remove it and wrap it in rotting linens in the wardrobe to help protect it.

Meanwhile, Hesiciah began looking over the wardrobe. In the back of one of the drawers, he found a small sack that sounded like it contained junk, but it contained 6,000 pieces of silver and three small green stones. Also, on the very top shelf, he found an intact hat - a toboggan, really - with a peaked top decorated with a small, brass bell. Remembering that there was a blizzard going on in the city above, he put on the hat and was immediately glad of its warmth.

Nadia looked back from the east wall. Her scrap of map indicated that there was a secret door here, and it hadn't led her wrong yet. However, she was flummoxed where the catch could be. Thinking she might have missed something, she began searching the screen. Hidden in a niche was a small, seven-inch long wand. She attempted to get it to work, but without a command word, she was lost. She concealed the wand up her sleeve.

After a quick count of his newly found silver, Hesiciah turned and looked at the eastern wall. He noticed a spot on it that was glowing slightly. He moved over towards the wall and touched it. With an audible 'click' the secret door slid silently open and to the right.

Glaring at Hesiciah, Nadia peaked through the door and saw the passage extending north for at least forty feet ending in a door. The air in the passage was filled with an unfamiliar smell - an outside smell. Everyone smelled it, but only Gruell could identify it: dire boars - at least two of them. The barbarian began licking her lips remembering meals of roasted boar steaks over the campfire.

Quickly casting bull's strength on Gruell, the party counted to three and she smashed in the door revealing a room that had been quickly converted into a barnyard. Revealed were two huge dire boars chained to the north wall, and two deep dwarves apparently taking care of them. The dwarves were startled by the appearance of the party, but one of them quickly released the chains holding the boars and, with a snort, they attacked.

Gruell charged in and managed to slay one of the boars almost single-handedly. Parvati's acid arrows softened up both boars, and one tagged one of the dwarves. Nadia zipped across the room and engaged both dwarves, felling one before Parvati felled the other with her magic. Hesiciah kept pumping crossbow bolts into the second boar until Gruell smashed it flat.

As the party nursed their wounds, Hesiciah made the comment that these boars probably would fetch a fair price in the town above. Gruell drew a knife and began field dressing the creatures as Nadia and Parvati began searching the dwarves.

Both dwarves were wearing leather armor and carried miscellaneous dungeon crawling gear. One was carrying another one of the strange torn scroll necklaces and a bag of dire boar treats. The other one carried what was obviously a book of magic... but there was no writing on any of the pages!

As Nadia examined the blank book, a scrap of paper fell out which she grabbed. On it was another scrap of map. This one depicted a room labeled 'deadly coins' and another, just to the north, labeled 'DEATH'. She pocketed the map and, once again, told no one in the party about it.

The combat with the boars had drained the party of spells and healing magic, so, reluctantly, the group decided to return to the city above to rest. Leaving the room with the boars, they traveled back through the complex through the room with the screen; the room with the statue of the dwarf; the room with the iron maiden; and back through the sewers to the entrance below the stables. Soon, the treasure-laden crew was back in the city.

Swiftly everything was sorted. Coins were passed out, and over the next two days a buyer was found for the mirror, getting the characters a cool one thousand gold for that item alone! The owner of the stables even bought the dire boar treats for ten gold pieces.

A representative from the college was summoned and confiscated all of the notes the group took, as well as all the items that were found that had writing upon them. As per the agreement, they would be copied and returned to the party as soon as they were done.

After this, everyone went their separate ways. Nadia, however, had a specific goal in mind. She had thought long and hard about those two chalices found below the Syrrom, and she thought now she would get some answers. Following the college's representative back to the college, she was introduced to Master Cazie who was a sage in all things divine.

Nadia informed the sage that she had found two odd items in her travels and wondered what they were. She then presented the two silver goblets to the astonished wizard. He looked the two over and pronounced them genuine. He told the halfling that these were two holy relics of the temple of Kord in Yttil and there was an outstanding reward of ten thousand gold for their return.

Nadia learned that over a hundred years ago, a daring thief made off with the relics and escaped town before he could be caught. The word on the street at the time was that he then traveled east, but he was never heard from again. With this, Cazie stood up and pulled on his coat to go out. He reverently placed the chalices in the box and told Nadia that it was time to return them to the Temple of Kord.

With the sage leading the way, Nadia soon found herself in the temple of Kord. Symbols of strength in body and mind lined the worship area as well as the altar. Master Cazie lost no time in pushing his way into the office of High Priest K'Tal, and when the box was opened, the muscular cleric's eyes grew wide.

A few simple spells confirmed what Cazie had already surmised: these were real. When the sage told everyone that Nadia was the one who found them, there was much joy at this. K'Tal ordered a feast to be held later that week in honor of the order's newest 'Hero of Kord' Nadia. Then, as promised, K'Tal lead Nadia to the vaults and presented her with the promised reward of ten thousand gold pieces, set aside for this happy day.

Nadia was reluctant to say anything about how or where she found the relics. She just kept repeating that 'Kord lead her to them'. This profoundly affected the clerics and while they were curious, they also respected her privacy and asked no prying questions.

After the date was set for the celebration (to which Nadia's family and the party were also invited), Nadia took her leave. She returned to Quarrier Street and her worried family. To her father, she handed one thousand gold coins. Then, she told her shocked family that the Temple of Kord would be honoring her later that week, and they were all invited to the celebration. The whole family was in awe of the news, and very grateful.

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End of Session 22

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	24. Session 23

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Death and Prophecy

by

Rockbender (and small edits by Lady Demoonica Darkmoon)

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Session 23

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Sviftmont 27 - passed uneventfully in town

Sviftmont 28

This day broke ice cold, but clear. The snowstorm that had buried the city in five-foot drifts had ended. The town began digging itself out of the snow.

In the guardhouse it was busier than normal. The party quickly found out that it was payday! Not only did they get to keep their findings in the Undercity, but the city was going to pay them today also!

Everyone got into line, and, as these things go, the party members were split up along the length of the line.

As it turned out, Hesiciah was the first to approach the bench with the bursar, Captain Aryl, and the scribe with the ledgers. The three identified Hesiciah and after much grumbling announced he had earned nine gold and six silver coins for his work as a troubleshooter. It was quickly apparent to Hesiciah that troubleshooters made four or five times as much as normal guards. He was called forward to receive his pay when something strange happened.

The scribe was holding out Hesiciah's pay, ready to drop it in his palm, when Hesiciah heard something. It was a voice, just behind his left ear, telling him ▒Don▓t take the money'. Quickly, the ranger jerked around and saw... nothing. There was no one right behind him. The only other person close to him was the next guardsman in line who was ten or so feet behind him, waiting in the door. He was giving Hesiciah the look like 'hurry up, so I can get my money!'

Hesiciah wrestled with this for a moment. The voice had been male and it had not sounded angry or concerned, just insistent. The scribe cleared his throat and shook the coins in his hand. Aryl looked oddly at Hesiciah and asked if he was okay. The ranger indicated he was, and then turned back to the table. He told those at the table to give his pay to the next guardsman in line, and he walked out.

He didn't see the look of confusion on the three at the table. Nor did he see the unfettered glee on the look of the guard behind him. But Hesiciah realized there was something weird going on, and the tiny bit of coin he was being offered paled to the amount he had already gotten. He was content as he waited for the rest of the group.

Parvati was next, and, like Hesiciah, heard the voice. She also indicated her pay should go to the next in line. Then came Gruell. When the half-orc squeezed her way through the door, Captain Aryl told the others at the table that he would handle this.

Aryl continued, "Gruell, for all your hard work this month, I'd like to give you..." and then he retrieved a huge chocolate cake from beneath the table. Gruell's eyes widened at the sight of her favorite food. As she reached for it she heard a voice behind her left ear: 'Gruell, don't take... oh nevermind.'

Moments later, the remains of the demolished cake were everywhere. Gruell, now covered in chocolate, skipped lightly down the steps with a contented smile on her face. The burser, Aryl, and the scribe began cleaning themselves up as best as they could before admitting the next guard.

Aengus was next and he also elected to hand off his pay to the next in line. Also, he was thoroughly convinced that he could identify the voice if he heard it later. Lafiel was next. She also heard the voice, but elected to take the seven gold pieces and six silver pieces offered her.

Finally, Nadia also heard the voice, and did take the coins. However, she took them straight to the Temple of Kord and had High Priest K'Tal place them in safekeeping along with the torn scroll necklace. However, she reserved one gold coin, which she kept in a special pocket in her backpack. She also gave K'Tal a list of magic items she was looking for. He promised to begin looking for them.

Everyone then decided it was time for at least a week off from adventuring. They agreed to talk more after the celebration at the temple, which would take place on the eighth of Colmont.

Colmont 1 - Colmont 7 - Everyone was taking some time off in town.

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End of Session 23

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	25. Session 24

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Death and Prophecy

by

Rockbender (and small edits by Lady Demoonica Darkmoon)

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Session 24

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Colmont 8

At the banquet for Nadia at the Temple of Kord, Lafiel pesters Nadia for the story about where she found the two chalices. Nadia is very evasive, saying only that Kord lead her to them. Lafiel tries to get the other folks at the party, and Brother K'Tal to insist that Nadia tell them, but they seem to respect her privacy about the matter, and they are truly happy to have the holy relics back, so they don't pry. However, when Lafiel gets K'Tal alone, she manages to convince him to get Nadia to tell him the whole story.

Colmont 9

When Nadia returns the next day for the magic items she had requested, Brother K'Tal does indeed ask her for the whole story. Nadia relents and tells him everything of the adventure in the temple complex below the Stone Garden northeast of Sparburg. When she describes the place, K'Tal pales and says that that place sounds like a sacred place to the Divintes, a place of pain and knowledge that man was not meant to know. He is in awe that Nadia and the party escaped such a situation and says that Kord must have blessed them by getting them out of that mess. K'Tal also warned Nadia to never return there.

Colmont 10

The following day, the group, fresh from their weeklong break, decided to descend once again into 'Area 8'. The rested and refitted group sported some new gear and items. After catching up with Athun and Bertrum, they learned Cedric had not liked nearly being killed and had taken his cut of the dungeon crawl and had bought into a local bakery. However, Athun had quickly grabbed up another troubleshooter named Carman who was eager to help out for a cut of the loot.

After once again descending through the floor of Traytany's stables, the party worked through the sewer to the entrance. Once again, Nadia's touch was enough to cause the secret door to fold back. Quickly the party moved back through the room with the iron maiden, past the room where the fought the insect creatures, through the room with the statue of the reclining dwarf, through the door that Gruell had vaporized, and finally reached the room with the wardrobe and screen (still pushed against the north wall).

At this point, Nadia asked the other party members if they'd heard anything strange when they'd gotten paid at Four Flags on payday. All spoke up and claimed that they had heard a voice telling them not to take their pay. Gruell simply remembered that they gave her a big, chocolate cake and she ate it.

Nadia also tossed a gold coin to Lafiel as partial payment for all the identifying that she had done on the items that the party had found previously. Lafiel believed that Nadia was mocking her, and tossed the coin back on the ground. Bertrum and Aengus made to grab the coin, but Nadia snatched it before either could get it. Then, while Lafiel was busy elsewhere, Nadia slipped the gold coin into Lafiel's coinpurse.

Moving through the concealed door on the east wall, the party moved up to the room where they had fought the dire boars over a week ago. The stench from the rotting carcasses was strong even through the closed door, and once it was opened, it was a thousand times worse. Thousands of pale insects were devouring the remains that were left after Hesiciah cut the usable meat out of the creatures.

No one noticed, but the bell on top of Hesiciah's new hat began to softly glow. As he swung his eyes around, he noticed a big 'T' on the west wall that he pointed out to the party. However, no one else could see it. Nadia decided to bypass both the wall and the more easterly of the northern doors and searched the westernmost of the north doors for traps.

Not finding any, she opened the door into a long hallway, as her hidden map showed. Moving up the hallway, Nadia insisted that the party ignore the door on the east wall, and moved to the next door on the west wall. Quickly checking her map, she was sure this was the room marked 'Deadly Coins' on her map fragment.

Nadia then informed Lafiel that now was not a good time to be carrying the coins she was carrying. She revealed that one of the coins in Lafiel's purse was the coin she kept from her pay, and she had reason to believe that the coin was cursed in some way. Nadia requested the coinpurse from Lafiel who, after tying it tightly closed, surrendered it to Nadia.

A quick check for traps (none) and she then popped the door open revealing a thirty-by-fifty room stretching north to south. A little light from Athun's torch revealed a mural covering the west wall depicting a jungle, complete with snakes slithering across the ground and multicolored birds in the drooping trees.

With a few seconds work, Nadia undid Lafiel's knot and tossed the bag of coins into the room. With a clatter, they scattered on the barren stone floor. There was no response, positive or negative, to the coins, so the party slowly entered the room to look at the mural. Athun and the other torchbearers stood wide apart on either side of the door to illuminate the whole mural.

Just past midway on the mural, was an odd sight: gold coins had been affixed to the surface of the mural in a circular pattern, obscuring the picture in an area of about four feet by four feet, down near the floor. Aengus quickly counted about 200 gold coins were over the image of... something. Nadia stood back, squinted, cocked her head, and paled - averting her eyes immediately.

Shaking, she told the party that the image behind the coins looked like a basilisk - a horrible reptile whose slightest glance would turn someone to stone. Apparently, the master artist who drew the mural had fallen victim to the basilisk's stare and been returned to flesh. Then, after the mural was painted, the image of the creature had been covered with the coins as a fiendish trap: one the party only narrowly avoided.

Leaving the deadly coins behind, the party moved back into the passage and continued north. At the end of the long hallway was a door on the west wall. However, Nadia knew from her map fragment that there was a secret door on the east wall, just opposite the visible one. She went over the wall completely, but could not find any method to open it, let alone find the edges of the door.

While she was searching, the other party members were also looking at the blank wall. Hesiciah began to stare at the wall and Aengus noticed that the small bell on the top of Hesiciah's hat began to glow. Almost immediately Hesiciah noticed a huge 'S' inscribed on the wall with a tiny point in the middle of the letter that was glowing brightly.

When Nadia stepped away from the wall in frustration, Hesiciah stepped forward and tapped the wall in the spot where it was glowing. The stone began to melt back from that point, much like water swirling way down a drain. Seconds later, a five-foot round hole had appeared -- piercing the foot-thick stone wall.

Nadia glared at Hesiciah's hat, and everyone peaked into the room. Another jungle scene was revealed: this one covering all four walls. Moving cautiously inside, the party was moving towards the center when Hesiciah motioned for everyone to stop. He had seen four sets of blinking eyes watching the party from the east panel of the mural.

Everyone drew their weapons and prepared for combat...

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

End of Session 24

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	26. Session 25

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Death and Prophecy

by

Rockbender (and small edits by Lady Demoonica Darkmoon)

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Session 25

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Everyone braced as the four pairs of eyes blinked back at them. Gruell and Hesiciah stood paralyzed as two pairs of eyes winked out. Then, with an ear-splitting roar, two huge felines leaped out of the mural and into the room.

Gruell, faced by the sight of the horrible, obviously magical creatures, ran for the portal. Hesiciah raced after her to try and stop her.

Singing madly, Lafiel tumbled backwards to give her some space between the creatures so as to use her crossbow. Aengus met the things head-on and prevented them from jumping by to rend the bard. Several swings later, the beasts were solely concentrating on the dwarf's weapon and Parvati's spells.

Which was just how Nadia wanted it. With a quick move, she flung a dagger at the one Aengus had just wounded. With a THUNK, it hit home and the beast turned and leaped toward her. Luckily, as it turned, Aengus was able to crush it with a mighty blow.

However, her second dagger at the second krenshar, was enough to fell the beast that had been wounded by several of the elven wizard's spells. With a sigh, Lafiel and Aengus set to the task of healing their comrades.

While everyone was debating the dubious usefulness of butchering the krenshars for food as they had done the dire boars, Lafiel was doing a little looking around. She found that the area below where the krenshars emerged from the mural was 'pliable'. Pushing through the darkness, she felt her hand close around the handles of what felt like a satchel of some kind.

Withdrawing the item, she found it was a rotting leather bag. Upon opening it, she found it contained an old heavy crossbow. However, the bag quickly fell apart upon opening it. Aengus looked the item over and proclaimed it in good shape, so Lafiel claimed the weapon.

The party then moved toward the southern door - the only other exit to the room. Nadia referred to her map shred nervously. She knew that the party was nearing the room simply marked 'DEATH'. Once past the next winding passage, they would be outside the door.

That moment came too quickly. It was a normal wooden door, just like the others in this complex, but Nadia was filled with dread and the rest of the party quickly picked up on it.

In what proved to be an amazingly bad move, Aengus stepped forward and dealt the door a mighty blow with his weapon. To the surprise of all, the door practically flew off of its hinges into the room. Suddenly, a burst of red and black pulsed in the empty doorway. A magical trap had been triggered and everyone felt its affects.

Nadia, Gruell, Hesiciah, and Aengus were staggered and Parvati collapsed due to the amount of death magic in the air. Old wounds were opened and new pains flared up among the group. Gruell and Hesiciah were hit the worst and went limping back to the north to the relative safety of the jungle room. Aengus quickly cast protection from evil on himself, shouldered his shield, and he and Nadia grabbed the swooning Parvati and began to drag her north, away from the deadly magic.

Lafiel, who had not been right at the door, stuck her head around the corner and was the only one to get a look at the interior of the room. She saw that the room was full of a dark mist and floating in the mist were two bright pinpricks of light like demonic eyes watching the group.

As soon as the group had passed the door back into the jungle room, Lafiel slammed it shut, wedged it, and cast an alarm spell on the portal. "There's... bad... in there," she remarked cryptically. Quickly spells were cast and the party was healed of everything but the horrible memory of the death magic washing over them. It was decided that the group would have to rest to recover their spells before trying to enter the room again.

Nadia, still feeling the affects of the spell, chose to sleep apart from the other party members. She examined the bodies of the slain krenshar, shrugged, and burrowed under their bulk, turning them into a kind of tent under which she could sleep unseen.

Colmont 11

Everyone slept fitfully that night, and Hesiciah couldn't sleep at all - he kept hearing jungle noises that he swore were coming from the mural. When the party woke the next morning, and lights were raised, all were shocked to see Nadia sleeping under the picked-clean bones of the krenshars. The halfing pushed the bones aside, shuddered, and tried not to think of the thousands of sharp teeth that had been right next to her sleeping body.

Parvati, Lafiel, and Aengus then prepared their spells for the day. Many specific spells were memorized to maximize Aengus and Gruell's effectiveness. When the party was ready, they moved back to the doorway in the mist.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

End of Session 25

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	27. Session 26

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Death and Prophecy

by

Rockbender (and small edits by Lady Demoonica Darkmoon)

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Session 26

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

In preparation for the battle they knew was coming, Parvati and Aengus expended an immense amount of protective and destructive magic on Gruell and Aengus. Truestrike, bull's strength, mage armor, and heroism are cast -- and the pair fairly glow from the magic they've received.

Stepping through the shattered door, Gruell and Aengus are unable to see much through the ever-present fog. However, Nadia, peaking out from behind Aengus' tower shield, sees a figure in the southwest corner. Moments later she hears a voice say something softly in the darkness. She doesn't speak the language, but she remembers the words.

From the mist, a word of power is heard and coming from the opposite corners of the room are two crunching, grating, hulking monstrosities. As they move into view, they appear to be composed of masses of chains, manacles, and bones, all intertwined. They move with a shuffling gait that is slow and menacing. Aengus braces again the one from the south, and Gruell from the one to the west.

Nadia believed she was the only one that saw the figure in the southwest corner and bravely tumbled from behind the tower shield into the center of the room. From here, she sees the figure more clearly: it is human-sized wearing clothes that once were expensive, but now are rotting away. The creature's eyes glow darkly, and a foul stench surrounds it, like the smell of an opened grave.

The creature looks at Nadia, and, using magic, tried to bend her to its will. However, Nadia responded by shaking off the attack and planting her magebane dagger in the thing's face with a flick of her wrist. Unperturbed, the thing reached up and removed the dagger and, with a snarl, attacked Nadia back, wounding her.

While this duel is going on, the two chain creatures attack Gruell and Aengus. While the tower shield takes a beating, it does protect the dwarf. Gruell, however, takes a beating as the chains wrap around her and try to tie her up. Finally, the half-orc loses her temper and lets the Rage take over. With one powerful blow, one of the chain-things is sundered into thousands of individual links and bits of bone.

Then she charges to the defense of Aengus who has damaged the creature and caused it to begin to spin, sending it's chains at dangerous velocities in an ever-widening circle. Even with the shield, Aengus is barely hanging on.

Then Gruell charges into the whirling chains of death. Flesh is flayed from her bones, but she smashes into the beast with her warhammer and ends it's existence with another powerful blow.

At almost the same instant, Nadia dodges another powerful swing of the ragged figure before her. But the magebane dagger skitters out of the thing's grasp, landing five feet behind her. Using every ounce of her sklll, Nadia tumbles backwards, grabs her dagger and, once again, tosses it into the face of the figure. This time, the sickening sound of crushed bone rends the air and with a shudder, the figure fades away, the dagger clattering to the floor.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

End of Session 26

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	28. Session 27

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Death and Prophecy

by

Rockbender (and small edits by Lady Demoonica Darkmoon)

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Session 27

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

As the figure in the rotting robes faded away, so did the ever-present mist. Finally nothing was left in the room but the party members, several large chunks of broken bone and chain, and a large banded chest in the southwestern corner of the room. To work off her boundless rage, Gruell proceeded to make the large piles of chains into many, many small piles of chains. Eventually, her anger wore off.

By that time, Nadia already had the chest open and was removing its contents. Found within were many neat things: an octagonal belt buckle made of steel with a pearl centered on it, a small ring made of steel forged to look like a coil of rope, a small box containing five potions, a scroll case with two divine scrolls, a heavy box containing a disassembled masterwork heavy crossbow and 20 quarrels, seven heavy fur cloaks, a small bag of coins (which Nadia tried to sleight of hand), and a complete set of full plate armor needing only a new set of straps to be useful again.

A few judicious guesses, and an identify spell or two, and the items were revealed: A pearl of power (2nd) on the buckle, a ring of climbing, a potion of shield of faith, two of cat's grace, and two of bear's endurance, scrolls of shield of faith, magic stone, and shield other, and seven Winterlight cloaks. The rest of the items were non-magical, but still of excellent quality.

Now Hesiciah had noticed Nadia trying to palm the sack of coins, and she indicated that it was just practice and everyone would get their share. She then put on the ring of climbing and tried to test it to its full affect: she tried to climb the wall and then climb across the ceiling. She succeeded until, in a move that could be called stupid, she tried to hang from the ceiling by her toes and pour the coins out of the bag into her hand. Unfortunately, she rolled a natural '1' and fell...

...right onto Aengus' shoulders. The dwarf was startled, but still managed to keep his feet. Aengus also was the one who identified the Winterlight cloaks from an old description from his clan. Each cloak held minor magics to keep their wearers warm in cold climates. A definite boon as winter was gripping Red Fern in full force.

Nadia looked over the case containing the heavy crossbow. She quickly assembled it, but it was far too big for her to use. Since Aengus and Hesiciah already had similar weapons, they decided to sell this one in the town above.

At this point, Nadia remembered the voice had said something before the battle. Using her memory, she repeated to the group what the voice had said. Parvati recognized it as a dialect of elven. She translated it as: ▒Perhaps you bits of chain and bone can serve me one last time┘▓ The last word was a word of power that didn▓t translate.

Shouldering their gear, the group exited back through the door they came in. Swiftly they went through the room with the full jungle mural, passing the skeletons of the krenshar, and back out into the hallway.

Now Nadia examined the door on the west wall of the passageway. This one differed from most of the others in the complex in that it was made of iron. Also, Nadia found the locking mechanism, but the whole examination of the door had seemed 'odd' to her, so she asked Parvati to take a look.

One detect magic later, Parvati related that the door was magically reinforced as well as made of iron. Heavy bands of abjuration and transmutation magic crawled across the surface of the door. Nadia took a step back and decided that the group should try another door.

Moving south, the group found itself near the other door in the hall they had previously passed. It nested in the corner of the 'L' the two passages resembled on Nadia's scrap of map. Nadia examined the door for traps and just about missed the trigger of another deadly trap: this one a multi-ton block of stone just above the door. With a little sweat, and not a little help from Hesiciah and Gruell, Nadia heard the 'click' of the trap being disarmed.

Moving through the door, the group found themselves in another room of cages. It took very little examination to verify that this chamber once held many, many dwarves, humans, elves, and others - and that they were kept in little better manner than animals.

As the group spread out to look through the wretched prison, Nadia discovered what looked like three lockpicks under a pile of rotting straw. She became intrigued and cleared away the straw. Her halfling eyes detected that one of the flagstones was loose and using the picks she and Hesiciah levered it up. Under it, she found 500 gold coins pressed into the dry earth.

While she was rejoicing over her good fortune, Aengus had made a discovery of his own. While looking over the western door, he noticed that the ever-present garbage that cluttered the floor of this vile room was missing from in front of the western door. He brought this to the attention of Nadia who used the knowledge to bypass the insidious pit trap.

Once again, Nadia noted that the trap would have affected anyone on either side of the door. Securing herself with a rope, Nadia triggered the trap and rappelled down. However, except for several skeletons dressed in rags, there was nothing. She then climbed up and disarmed the trap allowing the party to cross back into the main passage.

Hesiciah had been puzzling over the phantom lady in the flower room, and requested the party let him try something. After the short walk north, they were back in the room with the huge, inlaid flower with orange petals. Once again, Hesiciah saw the elven figure on her knees in the middle of the flower. Once again, no one else saw anything but a vague, shimmering shape.

Hesiciah moved over to the figure and knelt down next to her. Using soothing words, he asked her why she was here. "I am cursed to be here" was the answer in elven. The ranger asked if he could help her. Her hands dropped from her face and she asked if he meant it. He mentioned that the party had already slain Malorn and Melina and would definitely assist her in getting her proper rest. The elf looked solemn and said "Bury me in the tombs of my people" then she stood -- as did Hesiciah.

The figure raised her hands and the inlaid petals of the flower began to descend, locking at different levels to become a broad, deep set of stairs leading down. A damp, earthy smell seeming to come from the center of the planet began to issue forth. Lafiel slipped over to the edge and looked down. She noted out loud that it looked like the bones of some elf dressed in fine robes lay just beyond the bottom step.

However, Hesiciah had other things on his mind. After the last petal / step clicked into place, the ghostly elf turned to him and stepped into him! He spun around, but she did not pass right through him. The rest of the party noticed his spinning around and his looks of confusion, and believed he was not telling the whole truth about the exchange.

At this point, Lafiel makes a connection to an old elven tale of an elven mage of the royal family who is taken in by a dwarven cleric who proceeds to trick her leading to her death. She's sure with a little more research, she can get names and the location of "the tombs of her people."

Once again, Aengus jumps in. He's certain that the elf is from the city of Elscor, about five or six days north of Yttil, which is about seven days north of Red Fern. He relates that the party would travel north on the Yellow Road across the Orphan Plains to Yttil, then past the lakeside town of Hoarse Elk. Then skirt the Forever Swamp to reach the twin towns of Hornborogh, a halfling village, and Elscor, the elven village. Aengus relates that the once great elven city was laid to waste in the past in a terrible war and only a fraction of the city's inhabitants are still there.

Gingerly, the party moved down the stairs and retrieved the bones of the elf. Breaking down Lafiel's eleven-foot pole and one of the cloaks, they made a rude stretcher to bear the bones back through the dungeon. Then they hustled back up the stairs. Nadia looked at the yawning cavern mouth at the bottom of the stairs which lead off to who-knows-what and just knew that Captain Ayrl was going to want to hear about this.

At this point, the general consensus among the party members was that they needed to do some serious research. Nadia wanted to confer with Kord. Parvati wanted to research a spell to remove the wards on the door. Lafiel wanted to check on the elven legend. Everyone had their own reasons, but it became apparent that not much could be done down in the dungeon. With a sigh, the group began the trek back to the exit.

Behind them, silent and automatic, the steps once again slid back into place and the flower once again covered its secret.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

End of Session 27

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	29. Session 28

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Death and Prophecy

by

Rockbender (and small edits by Lady Demoonica Darkmoon)

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Session 28

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Quickly the party passed back through areas they had already explored, and were once again climbing the rope ladder up to Traytany's blacksmith shop. Once there, they visited the secure area where Lafiel left his wagon. There, they temporarily placed the bones of the elf. Then, the party split up to get as much done as they could with the remainder of the day. They agreed to meet at the Orc's Dozen inn later for a meal.

Walking outside, the party was greeted by one happy sight: the snowstorm was over. The sky above Red Fern was so blazingly blue, it hurt their eyes to look at it. Parvati passed out the Winterlight cloaks that they had found, and everyone was able to ignore the chill. As they walked through the streets, they saw guardsmen trading their swords for shovels to help clear the streets.

Hesiciah grabbed Aengus for a quick word before the party split up. He showed the cleric the small torn scroll necklace that he had found on the dwarf in the room with the boars. Aengus looked it over and declared it was the symbol of a little-known human deity named 'Narrath'. He said he could do more research at the Temple of Pelor, so Hesiciah loaned it to him.

Then, Hesiciah finally decided he had to have a new bow. So he went to a recommended weaponshop (Ophilia's Bows over on Ninth Street near the river), and she proclaimed she could make the bow he wanted. However, it would take three weeks. The ranger sighed and made the order since it looked like the party would be in Red Fern for a while.

Meanwhile, Parvati took the suit of plate mail that they had found in the undercity to Poole's Armor Shoppe (also over on Ninth Street) and inquired about getting it resized for her. Mr. Poole looked over the scrawny elf female and then at the plate armor obviously sized for a large human, and sighed. "Miss, it would be easier to make a suit from scratch for you rather than size this one down." A little bit of haggling later, Parvati traded the larger suit of armor for a suit she could use. The pair spent the next several hours getting Parvati's measurements for the suit.

Nadia went straight to the Temple of Kord. There, she was met by many familiar faces, though she wanted to talk specifically to High Priest K'Tal. After a very short wait, Kord's newest hero was shown into his office. Nadia outlined to a very concerned K'Tal over their recent foray into the undercity. She concentrated on the room with the spectral elven female and Hesiciah's vow to help her. K'Tal commented that 'rangers should know better than to talk to the unquiet dead', but reserved judgment until he could speak with the ranger. Nadia promised to bring him over as soon as possible.

About making such a long trip to Elscor, K'Tal was more helpful. He promised a caravan at least as far as Yttil. He reasoned that Nadia might want to return the two holy chalices to the temple herself, and he would provide some security for the trip. He also commented that it would be months before the Divinites could launch an attack on Red Fern (if that was their goal).

Nadia also inquired about the holy symbol that she had left in the care of the temple. K'Tal indicated that no research had yet been done, but he could assign a novice to check 'Ye Olde Booke of Symbols' in the temple's library. Nadia asked if this could be done and K'Tal summoned a novice and set him upon his task. Nadia thanked K'Tal, then left to try to find her friends.

Aengus made his trip back to the Temple of Pelor and met up with some friends. He asked one of them (whose name was Karado) to show him the restricted section of the temple's library. There, he did several fruitless hours of research looking through the section on human deities for 'Narrath'. Taking a different tact, Aengus found Karado again and offered him 30 pieces of gold to do the research for him. Karado eagerly agreed and went off to make a large pot of coffee, because he was going to be up all night.

Parvati and Aengus then went to give reports of their adventures to Master Cazie at the college. He was most appreciative of Parvati's level of detail in describing the dungeon level, if not her description of messily dispatching the creatures therein. The pair also spoke to him about Hesiciah's interaction with the spectral elf female. Master Cazie indicated that a 'ranger should know better than to try talking to the unquiet dead,' and he recommended that they take Hesiciah to see High Priest K'Tal.

He also told the pair that the elves of Elscor were staunch supporters of Kord and well loved by their clerics. Apparently, even though the elven presence in the area is small, it is still a point of honor for followers of Kord to help the House of Elscor if possible. Cazie also advised that the remains of the elf be brought before K'Tal as soon as possible. Parvati and Aengus thanked Master Cazie for his help and left to find their friends.

The Orc's Dozen is a well-attended inn on the north end of Ninth Street well away from the bustling weaponsmiths and blacksmiths that populate the center of town. Nadia arrived first around 4 p.m. and chose an empty table in the corner and waited for everyone to arrive. Hesiciah arrived about 5 p.m. and she noticed him move straight to the bar and order some fine elvish wine. The bartender looked at the ranger strangely, and was about to fill the order, when Hesiciah shook his head (as if to clear it) and ordered a bowl of boar's stew.

Nadia, concerned by what she had just seen, shrank back into her chair and attempted to hide. However, Hesiciah's eyes tracked straight to her and he plopped down in the chair next to the Halfling. The pair received their meals and waited for the rest of the party to arrive. Nadia noticed Hesiciah fidgeting, as if he wanted to get something off his chest, but she didn't pry.

Arriving fashionably late, Aengus and Parvati came in and ordered, then plopped down with their friends. At that, Hesiciah opened up. In hushed tones, he told the party about what he had seen with the spectral elf. He also told them about it standing and walking through him. As one, the others at the table slid their chairs a bit further away from the ranger.

One by one everyone gave an account of their day. It was decided that they would retrieve the bones of the elf from Lafiel's cart and that night they would take them to High Priest K'Tal. Finishing and paying, the group moved out to the cold streets, but not before Nadia lifted 12 gold pieces and 8 silver pieces from a fat dwarf merchant's purse.

Retrieving the bones of the elf was a simple task, and the party was soon bearing the body north to the Temple of Kord. They found the temple guards waiting for them. They were ushered into the audience chamber and soon K'Tal and two scribes appeared.

K'Tal welcomed the party and took a long look at Hesiciah. He pronounced that the ranger was not under any kind of coercion, magical or divine. He then asked to see the elfin remains. The rude stretcher was opened and K'Tal seemed to get very emotional upon viewing them. Soundlessly, reached down amidst the bones and rags and retrieved a small ring. In emotional tones, he revealed that these must be the remains of the elven princess Dirita from the House of Elscor.

With the scribes scribbling madly in the background, K'Tal now agreed there were two reasons to travel north. He indicated that it would take at least three days to get all the necessary preparations done, so if the party had unfinished business to do they had time. Nadia requested a map of the area they would be traveling through, and K'Tal indicated a copy of one would be made available.

Finally, K'Tal told Hesiciah that this would be his task to return the body to Elscor. He also handed the ranger Dirita's ring. Hesiciah accepted it and as K'Tal turned away, slipped the ring onto the smallest finger of his left hand. Everyone else in the party noticed it, but Hesiciah was clueless to what he had done. It was pointed out to K'Tal, and he said that only elven females place rings on that finger. It was then that Hesiciah realized he had put on the ring. It unnerved the ranger somewhat, and he moved the ring to a safe pocket inside his jacket.

As the group filed out of the temple, they all realized they had much to do before they left Red Fern...

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

End of Session 28

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	30. Session 29

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Death and Prophecy

by

Rockbender (and small edits by Lady Demoonica Darkmoon)

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Session 29

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Early the next morning, Gruell zipped over to the blacksmith's shop to pick up her new armor. They were just finishing the straps when she bounced in to try it on. She figured that the breastplate-and-leather combination would be put to the test soon.

Soon after, the party gathered at the Temple of Pelor. The flags of mourning had been removed and it was back to business as usual. Moving into the temple proper, the group was met by Sister Kinree and the small contingent of warriors and priests who had guarded the sanctuary through the night. With Kinree was a silent elvish figure dressed in light armor. Introduced as 'Tahl', Sister Kinree indicated that he would also be assisting the party in exploring the undercity.

Sister Kinree then mentioned that she didn't see Hesiciah with the party. Nadia assured the cleric that the ranger was out 'getting a manicure or something', and he'd be along as soon as he could join up with the party.

Nadia popped open the trapdoor, and then Sister Kinree pronounced a blessing of Pelor upon the group. She then indicated that she had raided the stores of the temple and procured a length of rope for the party to use to descend to the depths. Also, a small bag of torches was produced, if the party needed them.

Nadia uncoiled the rope, tied on a weight, and lowered it into the hole. When she felt it go slack, she reeled it back in. A quick measurement later, she informed the group that the shaft was 55-or-so feet deep. Also, the fact that the last seven feet of the rope was wet, indicated a deep pool.

Deciding that fortune favored the bold, Nadia jumped into the hole. She fell through the shaft, exited into a very dark room, then was engulfed in what could only be laughingly referred to as water. It was more of a vicious sludge about the consistency of thick oatmeal.

Not to be outdone by a halfling, Aengus also took the plunge. His fall was hampered by his tower shield, which caught a couple of times before he was also deposited into the goop, losing his shield in the process.

Then, Gruell tossed the rope back down and the rest of the party joined the soggy pair as they clambered onto the lip of the underground sludgepit.

Gruell offered to dive in and find Aengus' shield. The first dive, she popped up with a broken wagon wheel. 'This it?' she asked. 'No!' from Aengus. Unperturbed, she dropped the wheel, and dove again. This time she surfaced holding the rear fender of a '57 Chevy (1). 'How about this?' 'NO!' SPLASH… gurgle… Finally, the half-orc returned to the surface with Aengus' precious shield.

As Nadia and Aengus had discovered, the pit was the eastern third of a large fifty-by-fifty room. The sludgepit had a lip about a foot above the goop, and a quick light spell on Aengus' shield indicated that the far east wall had three, three-foot pipes leading down just above the level of the liquid. Apparently, these pipes were to keep the western edge of the room from being buried in the gunk.

Across the ceiling of the room, were twenty pipes running west to east which terminated about halfway across the pit. As the party looked at the end of the pipes, they noted the occasional drop of water into the muck.

A quick survey of the room, showed there were three doors, two in the west wall, and one in the north. Nadia started with the southernmost on the west wall and determined the stout wooden door was untrapped, but solidly stuck. The next door to the north was steel and she felt as she ran her delicate fingers across it, that it was indeed trapped with some fell magic.

Parvati cast detect magic, and, as Nadia had envisioned, the door was ensorcelled. Trusting to her skills to keep her safe, Nadia attempted to remove the trap, but failed. Icy cold covered the door's exterior and threatened to freeze the young rogue's blood, but she leaped away before it could kill her.

Wounded, Nadia decided to retreat temporarily to the safety of the temple above and seek healing. On her second try, she managed to force her body to climb back up to the healers. A half an hour later, she had rejoined the party, healed and feeling not a little worse for wear. Bear, also accompanied her back down the rope.

While Nadia was gone, Tahl had gone on a little exploring. He had decided to spider climb to the ceiling to look at the pipes. Even to his untrained eye, they looked well-made and quite sturdy. The druid moved out over the pit and peeked into the end of one of the pipes. Far, far in the distance, he heard the sound of gurgling water.

After Nadia's return, attention turned to the northernmost door. Nadia moved to examine it, but Gruell, impatient for action, smashed the door into many, many pieces with her warhammer. Nadia noted, cynically, that it was a good thing that door had not been trapped…

Through the door, two passages lead east and west. The easternmost lead to a visible dead end. The west passage lead to a door of stone about twenty feet down the corridor. A quick examination indicated that the door moved on a huge, well-balanced pivot and no lock or latch was visible, even to Nadia's trained eye.

The rogue pressed her ear to the door and strained to hear what might lie beyond. To her surprise, she heard voices. Several distinct (if muffled) words: 'food', 'cook', 'chop', and 'gather' were repeated. Nadia relayed this to the party and asked Gruell and Tahl to try to open the door.

Both tried to get purchase on the door, but failed to shift it. Finally, in anger, Gruell tried to smash the door open, but only succeeded in making a racket. Nadia quickly tried to hear noise after the din quieted, but no more noise came from beyond the portal.

Now, Tahl tried one more time to pop the door open, and, indeed managed to slide the door open a couple of inches. Behind the door… was a wall. Being the party's only mason, Aengus peeked through the crack and saw that the bricks were the back of a wall. In other words, the other side of the door was the unfinished backside of a standard brick wall.

Not sure how to deal with this impediment, the party moved on back into the last room. Nadia took a look at the locked iron door that had tried to freeze her and shuddered. With no one willing to take a crack at hitting the deadly door to open it, Tahl took a shot. Invoking the spirit of his copper dragon heritage, he summoned a jet of acid to try to melt through the door.

The hissing and spitting of the green acid covered the door and filled the air of the room with noxious yellow fumes. Two minutes later, the party looked at the door and discovered the attack had melted a two-foot, teardrop-shaped hole in the door. It had also warped it, destroyed the locking mechanism, and ruined the doormat (which is a shame, because it really tied the room together…).

After making sure that the acid had boiled away, Nadia peered through the hole. A short way to the west, another door was revealed. The passage also curved away to the north and disappeared around a corner. Intrigued, Nadia hopped through the hole and moved quickly to the door, which was wooden and locked.

Looking north, Nadia noted a dead end… which she didn't believe for a moment. After a quick look, she found the secret door, which was oddly cold to the touch. As she searched for the catch, she heard the sounds of her companions squeezing through the door behind her. A particularly loud grunt indicated that Gruell had managed to hold her breath long enough to wiggle through.

Once everyone was gathered again, Nadia popped open the secret door. The door opened outward to the right. A quick look showed a… whitewashed… corridor leading west. The walls were stone, but Nadia's touch confirmed that they were covered with a slightly tacky, white paint.

Stepping into the corridor, the party moved west. Nadia quickly noted that at the extreme edge of the light spell, there were some drawings or artwork on the walls. Moving cautiously, Nadia finally realized that the artwork depicted the skeletons of two… no three… large four-legged beasts at least six feet long.

Parvati took a long look at the artwork and related that if the skeletons were supposed to be based on 'real' creatures, her guess was that they represented barghests. She further surmised that, because of their size, they were probably dire barghests.

Nadia immediately began looking for a trap and, even though she didn't find one, she had a dreadful feeling that those skeletal beasts would peel themselves off the wall and attack at any moment.

Frozen in indecision, the party waited…

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

End of Session 29

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

(1) Sorry about the anachronism - I don't normally do that, but it seemed funny at the time. DHC Jr. - Rockbender


	31. Session 30

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Death and Prophecy

by

Rockbender (and small edits by Lady Demoonica Darkmoon)

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Session 30

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Frozen in indecision, the party waited…

Not ready to proceed down the corridor, the party moved back through the secret door and back into the room with the pit.

Now Nadia moved to the southernmost door on the west wall. The first time she had looked at it, she had passed on it, because it was stuck. She motioned to Gruell… SPANG!!! The door was opened, (and oddly warped…)

Revealed was a short hallway and another door, also the corridor wound away to the south. Nadia moved to the door, and the others moved around her and peaked south. Another curve greeted them leading back east. Aengus hefted his glowing shield and sneaked a peak around that corner.

At first, he thought the hall was lined on both sides with barrels, but closer inspection revealed them to be sections of pipe. Several dozens of them standing against the north and south walls. Each had a short piece of chain fastened to rings set into the walls around them. Apparently, this was to keep the pipes from falling over.

Turning from the door, Nadia took a look at the pipes and pronounced them to be high-quality metal. Obviously they were the same type as the pipes in the ceiling of the previous room. Also, at the furthest end of the hall were numerous fittings to join the pipes together into much longer sections.

Now, Nadia returned her attention to the locked door on the west wall. Quickly she dispatched the simple lock and the door swung open inward. Revealed was a large thirty-by-forty room with the door they entered through in the south-eastern corner on the east wall.

The floor of the room was clean and polished and the ceiling once again had the twenty metal pipes overhead. The western wall sported an odd metal panel with one… two… three… umm… twenty knob-like metal bits each about three-and-a-half feet from the floor arranged from south to north. Also, above each 'knob' was a dwarven rune. Aengus quickly deciphered the runes as the numbers from '01' on the far right of the panel, to '20' on the far left.

Closer examination of the panel and the knobs revealed that the 'knob' corresponding to the number '01' had a handle attached. The lever was in the 'down' position and the heavy metal handle had been mangled by someone or something with tremendous strength. It was twisted around like a corkscrew.

Tahl got on one side of the lever and Gruell took the other. For about five minutes they carefully wrestled with the metal trying to straighten it out. Finally, they finished and the lever was once again movable. With a confident motion, Gruell snapped the lever into the up position.

Two things happened immediately. First, Gruell's strength was the poor lever's undoing… weakened by time and the recent attention of the adventuring pair, it snapped off in her hand. Second, the sound of rushing water immediately started over the heads of the party. Spreading out, they quickly guessed it was the pipe in the northernmost part of the room that had the water rushing through it.

Quickly, they raced back into the room with the cesspit, expecting to see water exiting from the northernmost pipe…

Nothing…

Until, quite unexpectedly, water began gushing from down the shaft the party had entered from! Water was pouring down the little 2x2 shaft and everyone looked from one to another in confusion.

Then, someone mentioned that if the central area of the Temple of Pelor had been built around one of the old city's fountains, might it be conceivable that that fountain – once provided with water again – might not return to being a fountain again?

Everyone had a sudden mental image of the situation above: devotees of Pelor, all standing around looking at the shaft, waiting for the party to return, suddenly drenched in water from the central pillar as the water finds its way back into the now gold-painted basin. A fountain pouring its water over the holy symbols and the faithful of Pelor. Everyone (save perhaps Aengus) chuckled a bit at that image.

But Parvati summed it all up with 'Now we have to find another way out…'. Everyone looked at the cascading water and agreed that even with the now soggy rope hanging down, there would be no way to climb back up that way now. Resolutely, they returned to the room with the panels.

Nadia moved to examine the door to the south. Immediately she noticed that it was locked, but noticed something else at the same time. Between the lock and the doorjamb something was jammed. She realized she could pull the handle and the locked door would open because whatever was jammed there was preventing the lock from catching.

Explaining the situation to everyone, she advised caution. She carefully disassembled the lock and placed the pieces on the cold stone floor. Once done, she carefully popped the jammed item out… it was a gold coin! A large gold coin… as she turned it over, she discovered the opposite side of the coin was stained with blood.

Aengus motioned to her and took the coin. It was a standard Brassite gold piece, but he was certain that this was one of the coins with which he had paid Kerado. He looked angry as he explained his beliefs to the party. Someone down here was mocking him – and by extension Pelor himself – by leaving this coin, soaked in his friend's blood here for them to find. Aengus was not going to be satisfied until the villain was brought to justice.

While Bear preened his feathers and strutted around, Nadia looked through the hole in the door where the lock had been. She saw a very small room – more like a short hallway – leading to another door. Even in the dim light, she could see that on top of the doorknob was something shiny.

Carefully, the group pushed the door open and Nadia slipped in. As she thought, another blood-splattered gold coin sat on the knob of the southern door. Little else decorated the small room, and she quickly set to working on the lock.

With a little work, the southern door popped open. Revealed were a short corridor east leading to a blank wall and a door on the west wall. On the floor on either side of the western door were two gold coins.

Quick as a flash, Bear zipped in and snagged the coin on the far side of the door, then flew back up to sit on the top of the door's frame. Since the bird didn't flush out any trouble, the party stepped into the small hallway.

Aengus angrily scooped up the other coin and grimly nodded that it matched the other coin. Nadia pulled a shiny gold coin from her pouch and made a quick trade with Bear for the other one. Now he was carrying three of the thirty coins that had doomed Karado.

Nadia turned her attention to the wooden door to the west. She noticed that it was unlocked and untrapped. With a push from Tal, it opened and revealed another small 10x10 room. It's only adornment, another wooden door identical to the one the party had passed through.

Moving to that door, Nadia found another bloody coin stuck halfway under the door. She wordlessly retrieved it and handed it to Aengus. Running her tiny halfling hands around the door, Nadia felt that something else was wrong.

Sensing a trap, she carefully searched and found a mummified eyeball in a concealed spot on the door's facing. Handing it to Parvati, she indicated it was the focus for a spell affect that would have gone off if the door had been opened without removing it first. She had no way of knowing which spell, but it probably was some kind of mind-influencing confusion spell.

Now Nadia chose to listen at the door and to her surprise she head what sounded like a low wolf's growling… and unsettling sound to the young halfling. Also, it sounded like there were more than one and they must be BIG wolves. Alas, there wasn't even a keyhole in this door to peek through.

Before she withdrew her ear from the door, she also thought she heard the sound of a door's hinges moving slightly… or some other similar sound.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

End of Session 30

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o


	32. Session 31

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Death and Prophecy

by

Rockbender (and small edits by Lady Demoonica Darkmoon)

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Session 31

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Before Nadia withdrew her ear from the door, she also thought she heard the sound of a door's hinges moving slightly… or some other similar sound.

Quickly informing her companions of the potential for trouble very soon, the party commenced casting spells and using various items to make themselves more affective. Nadia drank a potion of Cat's Grace, Aengus received Bear's Strength and Bull's Endurance, plus a Shield of Faith. Tahl engaged his race's power aura, and Gruell received a Truestrike and another casting of Bear's Strength.

After finding out the door was now unlocked, Gruell then heaved a massive kick at the portal. KRABLAM! The door flew inward, sailing twenty feet into the room and landing on a huge, white wolf creature, blacking one of it's glowing blue eyes.

Promptly naming the wolf 'Spot', Gruell screamed as the Rage took her blindly into the room. There, she was confronted with 'Spot's' two friends: 'Splat' and 'Fluffy'. The wolves were the color of a cold winter day and their eyes were all the same malevolent, icy blue.

Across the room standing next to an open door leading north, stood a being that was quickly recognized by Nadia – it was the same foul being that commanded the chain-and-bone creatures back in Area 8. The once-fine robes, now even more ragged since the being last appearance. "So it has come to this", the figure declared in ancient elvish.

Fearlessly, Bear flew down and tried to rake Fluffy's good eye with a quick blow, but failed and ended up in the southwest corner of the room.

Nadia quickly tumbled into the room, under both Gruell and 'Fluffy' and hurled one of her daggers into the villain. The dagger embedded itself in his left arm. Staggered a little, the figure exited out the dagger and dropped it carelessly to the floor. He then shuffled north declaring "Follow me if you dare!" With a sneer, he shoved the door shut behind him.

As it appeared Nadia was going to give chase, Bear cawed a challenge and zipped after the figure… just a little… too… late. SPANG! The bird's sharp beak stuck in the door, just a little below the lintel. Try as he might, Bear could not extricate himself. Finally, Tahl had to race across the ceiling and pry the raven free.

Meanwhile, Aengus and Gruell had been using their might to pound on the wolves. It was a hard battle, as each bite from the creatures sucked the heat from each of the warriors, as well as taking chunks of their flesh.

Finally, Parvati joined the fray with a flaming sphere helped the trio warming their frozen appendages as it did crisping the wolves. As each wound was heaped on the creatures, their blood – looking like milk pouring from their bodies – dissipated into the air like mist under a hot sun.

Finally, Spot was slain, then Fluffy, then Splat and as their bodies were subjected to the cleansing flames of the flaming sphere, their corporal forms melted away. Soon, there was nothing left of the icy wolves but six golden coins – all sporting blood on one side.

While the group used the flaming sphere to thaw their frozen hands, Nadia was hard at work on the northern door where the figure had vanished. She quickly ascertained that the door was locked shut. However, this didn't stop her for long. Soon, it was unlocked and Gruell pushed the door open. As she did so, Gruell thought there was something odd about it, but couldn't put her (massive) finger on it.

The door revealed another short passage to another door just like the one the party came through. The only differences were that this room had a small drain in the floor running east-west, and the keyhole had a small swing door covering the lock that had to be moved to see the keyhole.

Nadia made quick work of this lock (after checking it for traps, of course) and another shove by Gruell allowed the party into another, larger room. As the door swung open, Nadia and Gruell saw a door across the next room click shut.

This room was approximately 20x20 and had another, larger drain in the floor. Also, the party noted, there was a large two to two-and-a-half foot wide pipe terminated in the ceiling. It's huge metal maw capable of disgorging countless gallons of water into the small room. Tahl activated his wallwalking ability and peeked in. Far off in the distance, he heard water dripping.

Nadia busied herself with the far northern door – the door which had just been pulled shut. This door also had the small swinging shutter over the keyhole on both sides. Try as she might, Nadia was unable to get the lock to budge.

From the ceiling, Tahl heard the water from the pipe getting louder, reverberating into a gurgling, gushing stream. He quickly moved to assist Nadia…

… but Gruell got their first. As Nadia threw up her small hands in frustration, Gruell rammed her full weight into the door, shattering the portal to pieces. Small chunks of rock and bits of wood flew everywhere. It was revealed to the party that the door had been a thin layer of wood over an inch-thick stone door. Nadia reached down and withdrew the steel locking mechanism from the remains of the portal. "Something for dad to look at" she thought as she dropped it into her pack.

Through the ruined door lay a passageway north with another, larger drain in the floor. A cold smell wafted from the north and a chill entered the air. As Nadia stood, water began to pour in torrents from the pipe in the ceiling. As the adventurers moved way from the gushing water, it was immediately sucked down by the small drain in the floor below. There was an amazing amount of overflow which washed out the demolished door to pour into the drain to the north.

The party moved out of the trapped room and stepped over the grate to the north. The chill of the air was infinitely better than trying to deal with raging torrent of water behind them…

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

End of Session 31

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o


	33. Session 32

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Death and Prophecy

by

Rockbender (and small edits by Lady Demoonica Darkmoon)

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Session 32

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

The party moved out of the trapped room and stepped over the grate to the north. The chill of the air was infinitely better than trying to deal with raging torrent of water behind them…

But Nadia was intrigued by the door in the east wall of the trapped room. In her mind, it must match up with the room with the panel and lever. She slogged through the (for her) chest-deep, ice cold water to the door. Fortunately, the lock was tied to the trap, and since the trap was wrecked, so was the lock.

Snapping it open, the water poured into the room beyond, but by this point, the water was draining away at a rapid rate and was ceasing to be a concern. Still, it was a wet and cold group that stepped into the long, north-south corridor. The east and southern walls sported doors, and the northernmost wall held a shiny, metal plaque.

Moving to the plaque, Aengus and Parvati examined it. It was a large 3-by-5 foot square metal plate with etched engravings upon its surface. It's surface was marred by a deep scratch that began in the top right quadrant and ended at the lower left corner.

The engravings resembled many squares joined together by long, thick lines. Quickly, the pair ascertained that it was a map, but both were confused… if it were a map, the scale would have to have been… enormous…

At least as big as … the entire… city… of Red Fern…

Almost in shock, the party clustered around the plate. Upon it, they were sure, was a complete map of the areas of the Undercity. This was the most valuable find yet in the Undercity. Both Castim Byron and Captain Aryl would be most interested to get a copy of the map.

Nadia and Parvati produced several pieces of vellum, and quickly, the pair – joined by Aengus – made three rubbings of the map.

As they were rolling them up for transport, there was a loud noise off in the distance, over the roaring of the water. Then, there was a splash! Everyone looked at each other. It was obvious that something had tried to come down from the Temple of Pelor above… and that something had fallen into the slime pit!

Quickly, everyone raced back through the room with the panel, and down the short hallway leading back into the room with the pit…

… just in time to see the soggy frame of Hesiciah drag himself out of the sludge and onto the stone floor. He was drenched, head to toe, and covered with muck…

… but his nails were FABULOUS…

There was a quick war council among the group. The ranger was filled in on what had been found, and what had been fought. He agreed that the next goal should be trying to find a way to get out of this area and back up to the surface, so this information should get into the proper hands.

It was then decided that someone should at least try to climb back up the rope, through the waterfall, back up to the Temple. Tahl volunteered, but even with his spider climb ability, the water forced him back down.

Nadia tried to send Bear up the shaft -- twice. After the second time of getting washed into the muck, Bear turned a blind eye to Nadia's further requests, and went back to preening his feathers.

After that, the group poured over the map and decided they'd try to force their way past the door through the north passage. It had stymied them before, but now it remained the only door in this level that hadn't been opened.

The door was as it had been left: pried open an inch or two, with the back of the brick wall behind it. After some more close examination, it was determined that the door was on a pivot that was about one-third of the way through the heavy, stone door. Nadia bent her mechanical mind to figuring a way to lever the door open and push over the brick wall behind it.

Remembering the hallway full of pipes, the group sent Aengus and Tahl to grab some pipes that could be used as levers. When they returned, Nadia arranged everyone on two different levers and with a 1.2.3 PULL! Everyone strained…

The door held…

…for about ten seconds, then a crumbling, crashing, CRACK! Indicated that the wall had come down.

Pushing the door open a little further, the group heard panicked voices and screams from a room to the north of the collapsed wall. Through the dust which filled the room and the room beyond, came a creeping cold, much like the cold from the wolves, but this one was subtly different.

Within moments of this, there was the sound of many booted feet coming from the room, and the lights of many lanterns could be seen lighting the dust and revealing (through the pivoting door) many boxes and bags on shelves in the room beyond.

Nadia had been listening to the voices in the distance and identified the panicked voices as speaking in common! Moments after whispering this to the group, they heard a commanding voice from the room beyond: "This is Captain Aryl of the City of Red Fern… Who goes there!"

Relief washed over the group and Aengus shouted his name and that he was coming out. He stepped past the secret door and through the broken brick into…

… the cellar of the Temple of Pelor! The larder actually. It quickly dawned on Aengus that this area was far, far below the temple, and it was magically kept cold to preserve food. He stepped forward to see Captain Aryl and half a dozen city guards and over a dozen clerics of Pelor guarding the door out.

Quickly Aengus called for the rest of the party and soon everyone was jockeying around Captain Aryl waving the rubbings of the map. He grabbed Aengus' copy and scrutinized it. Then, he indicated that the guardsmen should stay and secure the door back into the underground area. "The rest of you… we're going to see Castim Byron!"

The captain lead the group back up three flights of stairs and back into the Temple proper. The group passed the central worship area and quickly filed through trying not to look at the acolytes trying to mop up the water that had sprayed almost to the third row of benches.

Sister Kinree stood off at the edge of the altar… er… fountain… er… 'fountltar' 'altain'? Anyway, she was soaking wet and was trying to dry off with the help of an acolyte bearing a pile of towels. Her expression as the party passed by was a mixture of confusion and anger.

But soon, the group was out in the streets, heading for Four Flags. Wasting little time, Aryl shoved his way in to see the Castim and deposited Aengus' rubbing of the map in front of the surprised dignitary.

The Castim's eyes grew wide and he summoned the cartographer. Quickly it became apparent that this map matched exactly with the maps that had been painstakingly drawn by many, many hands over the last three hundred and fifty years. Byron looked in awe at the group that had finally found the key to unlocking the secrets of the Undercity.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

End of Session 32

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o


	34. Session 33

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Death and Prophecy

by

Rockbender (and small edits by Lady Demoonica Darkmoon)

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Session 33

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

The Castim's eyes grew wide and he summoned the cartographer. Quickly it became apparent that this map matched exactly with the maps that had been painstakingly drawn by many, many hands over the last three hundred and fifty years. Byron looked in awe at the group that had finally found the key to unlocking the secrets of the Undercity.

The next two days passed in a whir... many parties for the party were held. There was much hobnobbing with the elite of Red Fern. Castim Byron and Captain Aryl were acting like they had received the greatest Winter Solstice present ever. Everywhere the names of the adventurers were on everyone's lips.

However, the day came when the group was to leave to escort the remains of the Elvish princess back to Elscor. The group met at the Temple of Pelor. Outside the temple, a large sled, or sledge, had been acquired for the trip. It had been outfitted with a large, wooden room on the back, making it look like a small fort on runners.

Pulling this were four huge beasts, snorting in the winter's cold. They were about the size of oxen, but with rounded noses like hippos. Also, they were covered by shaggy fur that was light orange in color. Upon the front of the sledge was a narrow seat, upon which a weatherbeaten man in a frumpy red hat pulled well down over his ears was wrangling with the reigns.

However, at that moment, the doors to the temple opened and many hands beckoned the group inside...

...to one last party!

There were many of the good folks of Red Fern represented: Castim Byron; Captain Aryl, Athun, Bertrum, and Cedric of the Troubleshooters; Lady Tamby from the orphanage; Masters Cazie and Kryste from the college; Sister Kinree from the Temple of Pelor (looking quite out of place in the Temple of Kord); and, of course, Brother K'Tal. Also there were many more of the good folks of Red Fern, both well known to the party and not.

Finally, after the initial uproar had died down, Castim Byron called for silence. When he got it, he spoke to the party: "Well, my friends, you have come to our town as hired swords, but you are leaving as heroes. You have another great quest before you, and we would be remiss if we did not offer you something from a very grateful populace. You see, we had always planned to give the group who finished mapping the undercity a great reward, and I am glad to be the lucky Castim to do so."

At this, presents were dispersed among the group from all of the grateful folks represented.

Tahl got a brace of potions, a magic wand of Bull's Strength, an amulet of natural armor, a magic Quall's Feather Token of a bird from the Temple of Pelor.

Gruell got a new magic battleaxe, another feather token of a magic boat, and a box of potions from Captain Aryl and the Troubleshooters.

Hesiciah got a pair of eyes of the eagle, a rope of climbing, a feather token of a tree, and another box of potions also from Captain Aryl.

Aengus got a ring of feather falling and a cloak of resistance from the Temple of Pelor.

Parvati received a set of scrolls including wall of stone, wall of force, dismissal, cloudkill; also a scarlet and blue ioun stone; and a wand of daylight from the college.

And finally...

Nadia received a magical set of boots of the winterlands and Brother K'Tal, himself, wrapped a belt of giant strength around her tiny waist.

The group was shocked by this generosity and for a moment, even Nadia was at a loss for words.

In this moment of silence, Castim Byron made a solemn prediction that even though this seemed like a generous gift, he felt in his bones that the group's adventures were not over and that they would need all of this equipment and more to return safely.

As the party broke up, Brother K'Tal took Nadia aside and handed her a key. It was to a locker on the back of the sledge. Inside the locker was a simply decorated urn containing the remains of Princess Dirita. It was to be her duty to return the remains to the Temple of Kord in Elscor. Nadia nodded and accepted the key.

He also handed her a letter of introduction to Brother Nevynne, the High Priest of Kord in Yttil who would give them a place to stay in that city. After this, the group was lead outside to their waiting sledge.

Outside, the group was happy for their winterlight cloaks, as the wind was whipping up. They were introduced to the red-hatted sledge driver whose name was Jaby Skye. He was to be their guide over the Yellow Road up to Yttil... "and beyond, if ye need me." Jaby told them.

The party – except for Parvati and Aengus – piled into the sledge and made themselves comfortable in the conveyance. Jaby climbed up onto the seat, pulled his hat almost down over his eyes, and gathered the reigns.

Parvati and Aengus had cornered Master Cazie and Brother K'Tal and were trying to get some last bits of information out of them about Narrath. It wasn't until someone mentioned that the sledge had left without them that they said their hurried 'good-bye's and ran to catch up with their friends. Gruell's arm reached out and dragged first the elf, then the dwarf into the interior of the sledge.

After leaving Red Fern behind them, Nadia climbed out through a shuttered door onto the seat beside Jaby. She asked him what these creatures were that were pulling the sledge. He indicated that they were called 'grummons' and they were hardy and hard to spook beasts that come from Irontown – very few are usually seen in Red Fern.

However, the Temple of Kord had procured these beasts and had contracted him to make sure the party got to Yttil. Nadia questioned him whether the grummons were captured beast or could they be bred in captivity. Jaby looked uncomfortable at this and indicated that these had been caught and domesticated. He said that they could be bred in captivity, but he had heard that the process was usually... messy...

Nadia marveled at the beast's long hair and, with a startled look from Jaby, she jumped lightly onto the back of one of the beasts (who didn't even notice the halfling's light weight). Sensing a challenge, Nadia attempted to hide herself in amongst the creature's long fur.

Wondering where the halfling had gone, Tahl stuck his head out of the shuttered door and saw an amused Jaby and one of Nadia's boots sticking out from under one of the grummon's fur. Tahl rolled his eyes and ducked back inside out of the wind.

A day's travel passed. Nadia – now smelling strongly of grummon – rejoined the group. Finally, the sledge ground to a halt. After a time, Jaby joined them. The group broke bread from the generous store of rations provided by the Temple of Kord.

As the meal went on, the group pestered Jaby with questions. He indicated that he had made the trip between Red Fern and Yttil many, many times (though not in this bad of weather). He had also traveled between Red Fern and Irontown several times, and between Yttil and Elscor once. He was certain he could deliver the party safely to Yttil.

Someone asked about the river that roughly paralleled the Yellow Road. Jaby told stories about the Walking River. Centuries ago, it flowed along the very road upon which they were traveling. But one day came a terrible rending of the earth and the river 'walked' it's way east... sometimes only a few yards, sometimes a half mile or more.

He spoke softly of the ruin it visited upon the towns along the road. They would pass five towns, and because of the bad traveling conditions, each town would be roughly two days apart. He commented that at one time, each town had been built right up against the river. Now, however, all were changed... most for the worse.

First, they would travel through the town of Widelake. Once, the river pooled here and the resulting freshwater lake was filled with tasty fish. Now, little remains but an inn and several families making their living from shepherding sheep and goats.

Next, the party would pass through 'Sad Dock'. This town sports a hundred foot stone and wooden dock... that stops a hundred yards from the river. Sadly, Jaby recounts how the townsfolk were so proud that they had bridged the river at that narrow gap and the town was growing on both sides. After the shake, the entire town on the eastern side was washed away as the river walked over it. The dock is a sad reminder to the people of their past.

At the midway point of the journey is Mumson... a wealthy and well-thought of town before the shake, it has hung onto prosperity by it's fingertips. To replace the revenue lost by the river, the town examined its options and the discovery of a copper vein means that the town is still in good financial shape. Also, many years ago, a former adventurer had settled down there and had built an.. interesting.. inn. The Sign of the Red Man. The group asked for more information about why the inn was so special, but Jaby just chuckled and said they'd have to see for themselves.

During this time, Nadia had been perusing the Prophecy. She interruped Jaby's narrative and asked about the map that had been given to the group by Brother K'Tal. Jaby took the map and gave it the once over. He pronounced it an accurate – at least as accurate as his travels could authenticate.

She asked pointedly about the party's destination of Elscor. Jaby sadly related that the city was dying. Only a tiny number of elves live there anymore. The few that stayed in the ruined city had developed a 'fascination with statuary' that he didn't understand.

When pressed about the city, Jaby related that hundreds of years ago it was a vibrant city, but it was attacked by a group of creatures that turned many hundreds of the elvish defenders to stone. With most of their army now motionless, the city was overrun and only after a week of desperate fighting were the invaders repulsed.

However, the damage had already been done. Now, the city stands at a fraction of its former size, its remaining citizens too few to affect any kind of repair on the town walls – or to their waning spirit.

Nadia also asked about the huge Lake Vangee and the tiny island of Mossroot. Jaby looked uncomfortable at the question and related that they could probably get more information than he could provide when they got to Yttil or, even better, the town of Hoarse Elk.

With that, the group turned in for the night.

The night passed quietly, and soon the group was back on the Yellow Road heading toward Widelake.

Finally, as the sky was darkening, the sight of a steady light in the distance indicated that the town was near. Navigating around the wide, shallow depression that once was a lake – now fenced as a huge corral for beasts – the party pulled up to the outskirts of Widelake.

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End of Session 33

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	35. Session 34

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Death and Prophecy

by

Rockbender (and small edits by Lady Demoonica Darkmoon)

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Session 34

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Finally, as the sky was darkening, the sight of a steady light in the distance indicated that the town was near. Navigating around the wide, shallow depression that once was a lake – now fenced as a huge corral for beasts – the party pulled up to the outskirts of Widelake.

As the weary riders approached Widelake, Jaby commented that they could just ride on through - if they wished. He let the group know that the only inn in town, the Sign of the Dour Paladin, wasn't a very lively place. However, staying there would mean that they party could sleep in beds for a change.

Votes were cast and the group agreed to stay in town. The Dour Paladin lived up to its name. A mirthless man named Kare took their money and all rested for the night.

The locals quickly left after the party arrived, but one lone man stayed. Introducing himself as Kurt, he spoke at length of his love of the road and travel. He asked if he could travel with the party for a while, as he was getting tired of the attitude of the citizens of Widelake.

Agreeing, the party and Kurt turned in. However, Nadia slipped out after midnight to test the security on the town's public buildings (sadly lacking) and their citizen's homes (nearly non-existant). After leaving some business cards for Ravenlock's Locksmithing, Nadia returned and slept.

The next morning, all awoke and loaded onboard the sledge. After moving through Widelake, the cold immensity of the Orphan Plains loomed before them. They traveled for the whole day, only seeing mountains and snow and plains and snow and the occasional snow-covered tree.

Late in the evening, Hesiciah and Tahl had joined Jaby up on the seat of the wagon. At one point, just before sunset, he pointed at a peak far off and to the west. "That peak is named 'Totem'. Supposedly, a group of dwarves from the Land of the Crystal Eye came west many hundreds of years ago. They were following their leader who had claimed to have had a vision of where they were to finally settle. He came through this area and saw that peak and said that's where they would live. Supposedly, they all shouldered their packs and trudged on into the mountains."

Of course, Tahl and Hesiciah pestered the old teamster with questions. He didn't know if they made it, for they came through before even Sad Dock was built. He also hadn't heard if they had ever been heard from. "I just know the story... not the outcome." he commented. Also, Jaby noted that that particular peak is exactly in the middle of nowhere in that mountain range... They chose the most desolate place to live... if they even made it. Totem is only visible – because of intervening mountains – from this one spot south of Sad Dock, and another, just north of Mumson.

While all this was going on, Kurt was in the back trying desperately to make a pot of tea while the wagon / sledge rocked on over the snow-covered road. Finally, he managed to get one brewing and then started to discuss with the party the adventures they'd been on until the group stopped for the night.

After getting the grummons fed, Jaby joined them. He indicated that the town of Sad Dock was next and that the town's name came from the fact that the earthquake that moved the river east wiped out the eastern part of the town. Only the western half of the stone bridge juts out over the road, the rest collapsed when the eastern part of the town was washed away.

Jaby cautioned that the folks of Sad Dock were even less friendly than those in Widelake. The disaster had thrown a perpetual pall over the villagers who, at one point, had a thriving town, now are just barely putting their town back together.

With these words of caution, the party rested, then, the next morning, continued north. Nadia sent Bear up into the skies to scout, but he returned bearing no news or details of interesting sites.

Finally, the sledge went around a hill and beheld the town of Sad Dock. As promised, the dock / bridge dominated the skyline of the three dozen buildings. About a quarter mile away to the east, ran the Walking River. A small access road had been, over the years, fashioned by the town to access the swift-moving waters.

The party stopped at The Weeping Mile, Sad Dock's merchant inn, and the innkeep, a dour half-elf named Celamos found them accommodations. While there, Kurt prevailed upon the half-elf to point him in the direction of the local healer, so he might assist in this short time that the group would be in town. Celamos pointed the place out and the healer was quickly away to assist the unfortunate and the hurt.

Parvati also questioned Celamos and requested that he point out the town's historian or bard. He indicated that Old Elarnon out on White Horse Lane was the closest the town had to a 'historian' having been a teacher for many years. Nadia received directions and left to question the old man.

After a few wrong turns, Parvati found Elarnon, a wizened old human residing in a small house with lots of well-worn and comfortable furniture. Parvati accepted a cup of his tea and asked him many questions about the town.

Elarnon quickly dropped into professorial mode and indicated that it was 400 years ago – he got up and checked to make sure – 400 years ago, in the waning of winter, the 'Shake' moved the river and broke the town's spirit. Now, the townsfolk go about their daily chores remembering that their town was once a great jewel in the center of the Orphan Planes, but now it's just a stop on the road.

Parvati turned the questions toward her own research on Narroth and 'the Seer'. Elarnon paused for a good while, but - reaching into his memory - responded that the Seer had been a leader of the Divinite people, long, long ago. He had unparalleled fortunetelling abilities, and had vanished mysteriously. Of Narroth, Elarnon had no idea.

Parvati then spoke of the elven princess Dirita and Elarnon remembered little more than the familiar story Parvati had heard before. That she was an elven princess who was betrayed by a dwarven cleric and was slain far from her homeland of Elscor. He indicated that no one knew her fate.

Parvati thanked her host, and after a second cup of tea, left to rejoin her companions at The Weeping Mile. On the way, she met Kurt, wandering back, tired and sore, from helping the healers. Together, they limped back to the inn to a hot dinner, and bed.

That night, Tahl and Hesiciah, sick of being cooped up indoors, ran off into the night to do a little scouting of the road ahead. While Tahl climbed trees to get a better look of the road ahead, Hesiciah tried out his new eyes of the eagle. After climbing to the top of a small hill and looking north and west across the plains towards the mountains, he spied something that made him wonder.

It looked like a wagon train, many, many miles off. But it couldn't be humans... Suddenly he remembered that back in Yttil, once or twice a year, a group of stone giants, lead by a giant warrior named Oddim, would visit the city. They had been visiting for over twenty years now and while at first they were eyed with worry by the town, now their appearance was almost looked forward to.

Judging from the direction they were coming, the group of a dozen giant was headed towards Yttil, hugging the mountains' edge around the north west part of the Orphan Plains. He estimated that the giants would arrive in Yttil about two or three days ahead of the party. Hesiciah shared this information with Tahl, who strained his eyes, but saw nothing at that distance.

The next morning, the group piled back into the sledge, eager to leave the sullen town behind. Quickly they were on the road and Hesiciah shared the news of the giants that he had seen last night. Tahl told everyone that the ranger had been drinking, and they had been pink giants...

The day passed uneventfully, Tahl stayed on guard, but only the occasional ice weasel popped up it's head to watch the sledge slowly slide by over the snow. One particular weasel got too close to the druid and he attempted to Intimidate it. Without even a squeak, the weasel dropped down dead.

Finally, as the sun dipped low in the sky, and Tahl had retreated back into the wagon, there was a screech, a bellow, and the wagon began to rock back and forth as if something huge had landed upon the roof!

There was the sound of the air being forced through a huge bellows and then silence. Huge claws poked through the wooden plank roof in places and Aengus and Gruell both leaped for the back door of the wagon to see what was out there *CRACK* and both heroes lay flat on the floor, knocked cold.

Nadia, however, had already popped the front door leading to the driver's seat and had barely turned enough to say "Wh---" when the sweep of a tail caught her right in the midsection and flung her thirty feet away from the wagon and PLUNK into a snowdrift. Moments before she landed, she noticed a similar (though much larger and much more Jaby-shaped) hole in the snow right next to where she landed. Her halfling ears picked up their teamster's low moaning, indicating that he was (for the moment) still alive.

Hesiciah and Tahl sprung (carefully) over the knocked-out bodies of Aengus and Gruell, wondering what was outside. Leering down a them from the top of the wagon was a huge birdlike beast with the hindquarters of a lion. Parvati climbed out and identified it nervously as some kind of sphynx.

Hesiciah tried to calm the hungry looking creature by using his animal empathy. The creature waved that aside and spoke "I am not here to eat you, but I was sent to ask you this: who is more foolish, the fool, the fool who follows him, or the fools who follow him and do not know?.... Ponder that, mortals!" And with a huge leap, the beast was airborne and sailing off towards the mountains to the west. Soon it was a speck in the distance.

Nadia heard Jaby whispering "Is it gone?" Nadia whispered back "It's right next to you!" "Oooooooh" moaned the teamster and tried to burrow further into the snowbank.

Getting everyone together at the rear of the wagon, Hesiciah repeated the sphynx's words to the group. Nadia, who had been studying the Prophecy since the day they received it, drew the conclusion that the 'fool' is the Seer, the 'fools who follow him' were the Divinites, and – she commented dryly – the 'fools who follow without knowing' are us... the 'Children of the Fiery Fog'.

Seeing no reason to question this 'reading' of the Prophecy, the group picked up Jaby, dusted the snow off of him, and deposited him back in the driver's seat. Soon, they were back underway with much more to think about.

Nadia (wondering if the sphynx's words could have referred to Karado's note found soaked in his blood) devised a plan to check. She wrote a quick note to Sister Kinree and requested that she strap a small scrap of Brother Karado's writings to Bear's leg. When she got it, she could compare it to the blood-soaked note that the party still carried. This small note to the cleric was strapped to Bear's leg, and Nadia – after promising him a shiny coin - sent him back to Red Fern.

That night, when the group had stopped for the night, Jaby was almost excited. He told the party that the definitely should stay the night in the next town, Mumson. Not only was the town prosperous from several different businesses, but it boasted a five-star travelers inn: The Sign of the Red Man. He indicated that he would definitely be staying there.

With that the party turned in on their fifth day out from Red Fern, and halfway to their first major stop of the City-State of Yttil...

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End of Session 34

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	36. Session 35

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Death and Prophecy

by

Rockbender (and small edits by Lady Demoonica Darkmoon)

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Session 35

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

With that the party turned in on their fifth day out from Red Fern, and halfway to their first major stop of the City-State of Yttil...

When Aengus finally woke the next morning (after conking heads with Gruell trying to jump out of the wagon) the party brought him up to speed on the appearance of the sphynx. He was amazed that no one got eaten.

After another grueling day, the town of Mumson was revealed to the group. To them, it looked as if the town were about the same size as Red Fern... however, it lacked the solid stone defensive wall. A wooden rampart stretched around the town, though, and that looked practical enough. The Walking River walked about a half of a mile to the east and – the party was surprised to spot three boats tied up to a small dock in the frigid waters.

The sled was pulled right up to the gates, and, with a little wrangling by Jaby, entrance to the town was granted. The streets were still covered with hard-packed snow, making the sled even easier to pull for the mighty grummons. Street signs covered in frost and ice were mounted on the corners of buildings and Jaby neatly navigated through them to the corner of Hero Street and Boulder Lane – the Sign of the Red Man.

Dusting off their winterlight cloaks, the group piled in. Jaby behind them, as he had dropped off the animals into the care of the inn's capable stablehand. "Your usual room, Jaby?" came from the bartender. "Please" said the teamster. "You didn't pay your bill last time, old man" teased the bartender as he polished the bar with a bit of cloth. "I'm good for it this time, I'm traveling with the blessing of Kord... and a full purse!" Jaby said, tossing a small sack of coins to the smiling man who shook his head and pocketed the purse.

Everyone had different impressions of the inn: Nadia immediately noticed that the place was built like a fortress; Aengus noticed it had an air of peace about it; Parvati and Kurt immediately noticed the huge, sweet-smelling samovar full of tea brewing on the end of the bar; Tahl and Hesiciah noticed that the place was decorated with restful forest motifs that made the quiet druid smile a little inside.

But one thing that everyone noticed was the huge wall-to-ceiling portrait to the right of the bar. It depicted a huge warrior at least six feet tall dressed in red finery. Red suit, red tie, white shirt, red leggings, golden dagger at his belt. He was holding a goblet of red wine in his right hand, and his left was thrown back and pointing down, empty palm out. His right leg was raised upon a small treasure chest, brimming with gems and gold. Draped across the back of the chest, half-hidden, was a black cloak and a sharp axe.

But this was not the unusual bit... the unusual bit was the face... Not obscured at all by the masterwork painting was the fact that the subject of the painting was an orc, or – more likely – a half-orc wearing a red hat (complete with white plume) and a wild, wiley grin on his face.

The barkeep introduced himself as Ulow and (indicating the painting) remarked that 'Roma' had been the founder of the Inn, in 721 of the Grand Compact, over 80 years ago. Roma had come from a land far away. He had carried his treasure from 'years of adventuring' and had finally stopped at 'the end of the line' which just happened to be the small town of Mumson.

Ulow continued on telling the party that now, eighty years later, Mumson is a huge town, and the money that he had poured liberally into the inn had come to fruition. The Sign of the Red Man was 'the finest inn in the central lands'. No one could mistake that Ulow seemed to pronounce 'Central Lands' with capital letters.

Nadia took a closer appraisal of the painting. She was very impressed, as she discovered that the painting was done by a master painter... not some amateur. She also noticed that, just from what little she had seen so far, that locks in this inn would be a lot harder to pick.

After securing their rooms, everyone split up to do various tasks. Some went straight to bed. Some picked up supplies. Some did laundry. Some took (much needed) baths. And at least one stayed in the common room and talked to the (very friendly) locals. They found that, yes, the inn caters to anyone who has enough sense not to cause trouble inside the walls of the inn. There is room for all adventuring types and travelers.

The group sacked out in the scandalously comfortable rooms at the inn and woke refreshed and renewed. With sadness, they said their goodbyes to Ulow and all made mental notes to stay at the inn on the way back.

After twisting and turning through the streets, the sledge was pulled out of town by their freshly cleaned-up and combed grummons... an unexpected extra bonus for staying at the inn. Ahead, the road to Gadfly beckoned.

After another day's travel and night's stay and day's travel, the town of Gadfly welcomed the group. The road lead straight down through the town, whose western side was built on a slight rise that could be called a tall hill or a small mountain. All the party noticed that the western mountains were getting closer and closer now, and the hills to the left of the road were getting steeper. And, still, to the east ran the Walking River... quickly, deep, and very, very cold.

The Nymph's Staff was recommended by Jaby, and, since he hadn't lead them astray yet, the group agreed. Adorned with a sign of a cartoonish nymph spellcaster using her staff to stir a large cauldron, the inn's common room boasted what Nadia considered 'an overboard Divinite's bad dream'.

The common room was decorated in a combination of fortunetelling symbols, made of all imaginable materials, placed all over the walls and ceilings. Shiny mobiles shaped like comets, moons, and suns hung over each table, emitting low light, and each set of bench seats were hung with gauze that would not have looked out of place at a gypsy's tent.

Even the smiling barkeep wore a robe festooned with diamonds, clovers, horseshoes, and other 'mystical' symbols. He graciously offered the group drinks, or, he added, "Perhaps you'd like The Great Syhar to tell your fortune, instead."

Nadia hopped up to the bar and requested that 'The Great Syhar' tell her future. He smiled, and requested to see her palms and the tiny halfling complied – Syhar sighed and reached for his magnifying glass.

Now that she was close enough to get a proper look at the barkeep, Nadia was not impressed. She had known many Divinite mystics. Many, many Divinite mystics. And 'Syhar' was about as Divinite a name as hers was. However, she smiled as he looked over her palms. "Aren't you even going to have me buy a drink first?" she asked. "No!" He said gravely "Alcohol will distort the Truth"

He set down the glass and placed his left palm over her palms, his right hand moved to shade his eyes. His eyes went blank and his face went slack. "The Eye sees..." he murmured... "That much money has passed through these hands and much still will. You carry a great burden, a sad burden that is not your own. And those who will receive the burden will also be saddened by it. Yet they will rejoice also." Then The Great Syhar's face returned to normal.

Nadia was confused. Everything said to her the guy was a fake, but she had seen his face... he believed what he said. "Do you see any more?" she asked. "Not in this manner" he replied "Shall we try another way, Lady Nadia?" Nadia agreed, then realized that she had never told Syhar her name...

The Great Syhar had moved to the end of the bar and quietly filled an order, then drew a huge, two-handed mug of very hot tea and brought it over to the halfling. Nadia balked at this amount of liquid, joking with Syhar that she'd split open if the drank that much. With a very serious expression, he handed it to her and explained she needed to drink it all, then swirl around the tea leaves at the bottom with her left hand. Simple: Drink. Swirl.

Nadia took a deep breath, and (with the whole bar watching) drained the cup in one try. As she was drinking, she could have sworn she heard Aengus chanting "Chug! Chug! Chug!" but dismissed it. She finally dropped the mug from her lips and gave it a tiny swirl with her left hand before The Great Syhar grabbed it away from her and began to study it.

Minutes passed and then Syhar said quietly and laboriously that the next two days would bring a very confusing event for Nadia. It would force her to make a choice that would make her question something she had been taking for granted in the past. After he had said that, The Great Syhar slumped and the mug slid from his fingers and shattered to the floor.

This galvanized him, and, moments later, he was sweeping up the mess, proclaiming that "The Eye has withdrawn from my mind" and he felt he would be unable to speak of the future further tonight. That was okay with Nadia, as she didn't see anything special in the second 'prophecy' and was ready to mentally dismiss "The Great Syhar" as a fake.

Still, the food was good, the drink better, and the beds acceptably comfortable, so the party slept well after staying up for several hours swapping stories with the locals. They found that the very tasty beer they were drinking was brewed in Red Elm, their next stop on the Yellow Road, and the last stop before the City-State of Yttil.

That night, Nadia decided to go pay a visit to the inn's 'seer'. She had already determined which room he was in, and it was a simple matter to pick the lock.

Once inside, she barely had to try to move silently as The Great Syhar could have been also known as The Great Snorer. Quickly, Nadia gave the room the once over. However, except for the copy of 'Fortunetelling for Mundanes' under the bed, she didn't find anything that would indicated Syhar was a Divinite.

She even yanked the small purse of coins out from under his pillow and found... nothing but coins he had obviously gotten as tips. Feeling kind of silly, Nadia dropped a random rock from one of her many pouches into the sack for him to find the next day. Then she left, both confused and disappointed.

Leaving town the next morning, the party was surprised to see a small group of the locals there to see them off. Apparently, their stories of the night before had made an impression on them, and they wanted to wave goodbye.

Just before slipping out of sight as they rode away, Hesiciah noticed that the figure of The Great Syhar had hurried up and held his hand up as if to wave, but slowly lowered it instead. Hesiciah quickly put on his eyes of the eagle and noticed that Syhar's face was a mixture of sadness and worry. Hesiciah mentioned this to party, and everyone shrugged.

Onward marched the grummons. Kurt stuck his nose out, looked at the sky, and proclaimed that there might be a snowstorm in a day or two, but it would be clear until then. Day passed, night came, and, that night, Jaby told of the Red Elm brewery being the biggest business in the last small town, Red Elm. With the prospect of spending the night in a warm bed in the Star and Stag inn that evening, everyone lay back to enjoy the trip.

Everyone except Hesiciah and Tahl. Something was in the back of their minds as being odd. So it came as no surprise to the ranger when he heard Jaby swearing at the grummons moments before the sledge bucked a little and began listing to the right.

Exiting through the back, he raced up beside the beasts to see that the grummons on the left were pulling left, and the ones on the right were pulling straight ahead. Jaby asked him what the cantankerous beasts were up to. Using his animal empathy, the ranger saw in the minds of the simple creatures that they wanted to get up the hill that was slowly rising to the left. They wanted to climb the hill and that was it!

At this point, the interior of the sledge looked like pandemonium. Everything not tied or lashed down was bouncing around the interior like a bouncing ball as the grummons thrashed around. Gruell was hit in the head with a frying pan (denting it), and Parvati was buried under the pile of books she had been reading.

Hesiciah, realizing he couldn't control the beasts, told Jaby to turn up the hillside so all four would at least be pulling in the same direction. Jaby complied and, soon, the group was halfway up a low hill overlooking the road forty feet below and the Walking River some hundred yards beyond it east.

That's when the rumbling started...

At first, everyone thought the grummons had started some kind of mating dance consisting of stomping the ground repeatedly with their broad feet, but this was not the case. Soon the ground was heaving, and, to the party's horror, sinking. Everyone poured out of the sledge, Aengus tumbling some ten feet down the hillside because he was unable to immediately get to his feet.

That's when everyone saw the Walking river walk again.

With a speed that defied the eye to follow, the riverbed pushed itself up, revealing four hundred years of sediment, the river rolled and plopped right back into the road bed that the party's sledge had been traveling upon less than two minutes before.

Then the shaking stopped... and the river – back in its original location – began flowing downstream as if nothing were wrong.

Everyone looked between the former riverbank and the current one. No one failed to notice that the river had washed the land between clean of snow, grass, and all but the heaviest rock. It had scoured the land it had flown across.

It was Parvati who postulated to the stunned group that the river, now back in it's original bed, might be playing havoc with the towns through which they had just passed. Jaby looked horror-struck: "Gadfly might survive. Mumson surely will – they're built far enough from the river's old bed. Sad Dock will probably be fine. But Widelake will probably be wiped off of the map. At the very least, they'll lose all of their flocks of animals as the 'Widelake' fills back up.

Then Jaby mentioned that the group needed to double team it to Red Elm, because more than half of the town there is located between the road and the river! Everyone piled in and the grummons were extolled by teamster, ranger, and druid to pull as fast as they could.

After a frantic afternoon of travel, the last hill was topped and Red Elm lay beneath the party... and it was in pieces...

If there had been a town of Red Elm, it wasn't there now. Between the river and it's old riverbank nothing stood except the remains of a waterwheel perhaps for the town's miller which leaned at a drunken angle, half-buried in the risen silt of the former river.

Perhaps a half a dozen buildings remained on the west of the river, most had collapsed. Groups of about sixty to seventy people were clustered around fires blazing in the remains of homes and businesses. With a snort, Jaby pushed the tired beasts down to the town.

Two riders dressed as town guards met the group as they came down the hill. One hailed the wagon and, with the air of someone who is in over their heads, indicated that the town of Red Elm was in a state of emergency and any assistance that the group could give would be greatly appreciated.

The party piled out of the wagon. Nadia and Tahl formed a group and began extricating those still trapped in basements and under debris. Parvati, Kurt, and Aengus began healing the wounded and preparing such shelter as possible for the upcoming night. Hesiciah grabbed Gruell and they went hunting, for food would quickly become and issue with so many mouths to feed.

Slowly, every building was checked for survivors and for supplies. Many survived because of the party, but many more were beyond the abilities of the group to heal. The dead – the ones who could be found – were interred temporarily in the remains of the basement of the general store... the only building big enough.

Recovered cloth and reinforced, layered timbers made shelters for the night for the remaining populace. From a town of 700 souls, now only 86 remained.

A decision was made by the only 'head man' in town – one of the town's two remaining guardsmen: the town was to be abandoned and the survivors would march north to Yttil to request asylum. The party agreed with this and also agreed to allow the wounded to be loaded into the sledge and be carried in as much comfort as the plodding gait of the grummons would allow. The wagon train would leave at dawn.

The next morning, the snowstorm Kurt had predicted began. Snow began falling slowly and methodically, but thankfully the wind never picked up. Just as the group of refugees was thinking of stopping for the night, the advanced group noticed a column of mounted riders coming down on the western side of the river.

They quickly rode up into the group. Approaching the sledge, a mounted officer announced his name was Captain Tanane and wanted to know what this group was doing heading for Yttil. Nadia and the Red Elm guardsmen filled in what had happened to the Walking River and their town of Red Elm. The captain and his twenty men could not believe what they were hearing.

Captain Tanane quickly sent two men back to Yttil to send word of the refugees, then he spurred his men on by, declaring he would ride to Gadfly and on to Mumson to see how those towns fared. As he and his men rode through the group of people, Parvati and Aengus noted that many of the riders cast off extra cloaks or packs of food to the people as they rode by. Then they were behind the group and then they were lost in the falling snow.

The sledge began moving again, continuing toward the mighty City-State of Yttil.

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End of Session 35

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	37. Session 36

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Death and Prophecy

by

Rockbender (and small edits by Lady Demoonica Darkmoon)

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Session 36

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Captain Tanane quickly sent two men back to Yttil to send word of the refugees, then he spurred his men on by, declaring he would ride to Gadfly and on to Mumson to see how those towns fared. As he and his men rode through the group of people, Parvati and Aengus noted that many of the riders cast off extra cloaks or packs of food to the people as they rode by. Then they were behind the group and then they were lost in the falling snow.

The sledge began moving again, continuing toward the mighty City-State of Yttil.

All around them the snow continued to fall, but it was quickly determined that the refugees couldn't continue much further. Kurt looked at the darkening sky and indicated that if they were going to have any chance to make some kind of shelter for the night, they needed to do it immediately.

Nadia, Tahl, and Gruell pulled every square inch of fabric and canvas out of the wagon. Using the wagon as a central point, a massive tent was quickly constructed to shelter the crowd. Fires were lit at the edges and soon, everyone was as comfortable as the situation allowed.

Nadia, then Parvati, then Gruell stood watch over the refugees as they huddled around the fires. There were no arguments, no whining, only some very understandable sobbs from the weary group. Gruell was forced to enforce some grouping around the fires, but – other than that – the night passed silently.

The next morning, Kurt had an idea. He mixed up a pot full of potion for the refugees. He admitted to the party that it was little more than concentrated, very hot coffee, but he figured having a little hot, wakeup batch of stimulant might be just what the group needed. The party agreed and helped distributed the drink along with what meager food remained.

Hesiciah and Aengus were practically bouncing to get moving. Both had grown up in Yttil, and only the recent difficulties of the last two months had kept them from returning. Hesiciah walked next to the grummons to make sure they were going in the right direction, and Aengus sat in the passenger's seat with Jaby helping him peer through the ever-present snow.

Trying to get some idea of what lay ahead, Nadia, Gruell, and Tahl spoke to Aengus about the lands between here and Yttil. Aengus said that he had been through this area many times, but not in weather this bad. If he was remembering correctly, within an hour or two, the path would split. The path to the right would cross the bridge, and you would eventually end up in the town of Hoarse Elk on the shores of Lake Vangee.

Taking the right fork would lead you to Yttil, past the low marshlands on the right of the road, south and east of the city. He wondered how the bridge had fared since the shake, and he also described the 'tombs' which rested just to the north of the intersection. These were the final resting places of those who had fought and died in the Battle of Lizard Peak in the 119th year of the Great Compact that created the Kingdom of the Amulets.

Angus also indicated that – if it weren't for the terrible weather – you could finally see Lizard Peak over to the north-north-east. But the snowstorm hid the infamous mountain for the time being.

Finally, one of the riders was seen riding back and announced that the crossroads was just ahead. Finally, the great mounds came into view. The dead had been lain – as had been the custom of the time – into graves in the wall of the mound. Then, more earth was piled, and more graves created, until a great mountain of earth some sixty feet high and a hundred feet across became part of the landscape.

Then they had created the second mound... and the third... According to Aengus, untold thousands rested under the grounds of 'the Tombs'.

As the group approached the fork, it was quickly determined something was wrong. Firstly, the bridge leading across the river to Hoarse Elk – gone... completely destroyed except for the easternmost foundation. The river had, in its shake, knocked it down. Now, the river flowed some fifty feet west of it's former position and came almost to the foot of the first of the Tombs.

Also, the Tombs had not survived unscathed. It was Kurt who noticed that instead of a uniform white covering over the mound, there was what looked to be a black line seemingly cutting the mount in half. Tahl noticed this moments later and the pair grabbed Gruell and went to investigate, indicating the rest of the party should continue shepherding the refugees along the north west road to Yttil.

When the trio approached the hill, they noticed immediately that the shake had apparently caused part of the land to slide. Also, an opening had appeared at the base of the tomb facing the crossroads. Gruell looked down the tunnel and saw cold – a complete absence of warmth down there. Almost immediately, there came a shuffling and five figures emerged from the hole. They looked like soldiers, dressed in rotting armor and burial vestments, but their skin looked drawn back and weatherbeaten as if they had frozen to death in the snow. With a speed quite unexpected, the five attacked the party.

With a roar, Tahl yelled to the caravan to keep moving while they dealt with this. Nadia, Hesiciah, and Aengus endeavored to comply, not really knowing what was going on because the snow was blocking their view of the battle. Slowly, the column of refugees moved through the crossroads and headed northwest.

Meanwhile, the creatures had attacked Gruell and Kurt and gotten both of them in bear hugs. Tahl had nimbly gotten away from his attackers, but not before breathing a cloud of acid into the face of one of the undead. Unable to bear the freezing damage she was taking, Gruell finally broke free and attacked with her new battleaxe. Freezing and hurt from the attacks, Kurt managed to pull an item from around his neck and toss it into the opening in the hill behind them.

Moments later, the entire necklace of fireballs exploded about ten feet down the entrance. The explosion backed up the passage and managed to fry most of the undead things, but two still stood...

Until Gruell chopped one to pieces and then Nadia (after having decided to join the battle after all) appeared out of nowhere and knifed the creature holding Kurt. The halfling was too happy to be free to notice just who had saved him. Nadia quickly retrieved her dagger and searched the remains for treasure.

Someone mentioned to Gruell that the fireball had been because there was a dragon down the tunnel. Gruell's eyes brightened and she ran down the tunnel to go see the creature. The party clustered around the entrance and heard Gruell yell a couple of times. Everyone looked at each other, but no one wanted to join her. Finally, one very dejected Gruell returned to the entrance and told everyone that there was no dragon – just a bunch of dead humans. She stomped off angrily towards the rapidly-retreating caravan.

Scattered about the bodies were 600 gold coins, a very expensive amethyst in a very cheap clasp, and the helmet of one of the undead survived the fireball much better than had it's wearer.

The party bandaged their wounds as they walked after the caravan. Hopefully, by the end of this day, they would finally be in Yttil.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

End of Session 36

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	38. Session 37

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Death and Prophecy

by

Rockbender (and small edits by Lady Demoonica Darkmoon)

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Session 37

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

The party bandaged their wounds as they walked after the caravan. Hopefully, by the end of this day, they would finally be in Yttil.

Many hours passed and still the white wastes continued. Nadia spent much of the time trying to convince Hesiciah to swap his cap with the bell for the helm that had been acquired during the last fight. Finally, Hesiciah saw the wisdom in wearing a helm that could actually improve his armor, and swapped with Nadia.

Tahl then drew Nadia into a running snowball fight that culminated in raising the spirits of many of the children in the survivors. Soon, the long-forgotten sound of children laughing and dodging snowballs filled the group.

One thing that helped the group is that ever since the Tombs, everyone was walking on a proper road again. Through the snow, everyone saw the trademark dark yellow brick of Yttil. Everyone was heartened by this and hurried on at their best speed.

After midday, Aengus spoke up to let everyone know that - were it not snowing - everyone would have an excellent view of the infamous Lizard Peak over to the north east. He also indicated an oddly-shaped snowdrift. This, he said, was the snow-covered marker for the furthest fields - now it was only a matter of a couple of miles and they'd be at the city gates.

Aengus proved as good as his word, as barely an hour and half later, the whiteness ahead was lit up by the red flame of two beacons. Approaching closer, it was found that the beacons were huge fires roaring on the tops of two yellow brick towers between a gatehouse - finally, the group had reached Yttil!

Apparently, the group had been expected and the huge doors swung wide as the sledge approached. Within the gatehouse were jammed several carts, buggies, and many, many people looking anxiously as several guardsmen swarmed out to meet the group.

With relief, the party noticed that the first two guards out the door were the pair that had been sent back by Captain Tanane. They quickly urged everyone to get into the guardhouse and out of the storm.

Once inside, the huge doors boomed shut and the party noticed that the group of people waiting inside were apparently clerics of both Pelor, Kord, and a half a dozen other faiths - banded together in haste to help the refugees. The smaller wagons were full of food, clothing, blankets and other much-appreciated donations.

Before the refugees broke away from the guardsmen and the party, Nadia quickly organized them into a line. She passed each refugee a gold coin or six, depending on what she surmised they might need. She made sure that all 600 gold that she had recovered from the Tombs were all distributed among the needy. All of the survivors blessed her and the party in the names of a dozen deities for rescuing them. Then, they moved toward the waiting clerics.

While Jaby was talking to the sergeant like they were old friends (they were) Kurt and Parvati indicated that they were going to assist the clerics. This reminded Jaby to tell the sergeant that the rest of the party needed to get to the Temple of Kord. The guards praised the party and indicated that they wanted to hear the whole story of the shake when the party had gotten some rest and some real food in them.

Jaby pulled on the reigns and the grummons pulled the sled through the now - deserted guardhouse and into the snow-dusted streets of Yttil. It took but a moment to realize why Yttil had been referred to as the city of yellow brick - everything was made of the same dirty-yellow stone... the road, the buildings, and the lamp-posts (boasting continual light stones). Even the roofs were made from the same brick pressed into half-pipe shapes and layered on top of each other. Aengus made the obvious observation to the party that the city's bricklaying union was very politically powerful...

A short trip north lead to a huge crossroads and the party turned west deeper into the city - behind them stretched an open area, which Aengus noted was the city's open air market in better weather. Another crossroads - this time straight and Nadia noticed Aengus throw a glance north - the cleric sheepishly indicated the Temple of Pelor was on the north road. Tahl and Nadia indicated he should hop out and pay his respects, then meet back at the Temple of Kord later.

Aengus thought it was a good idea and hopped off the sled and headed north with a wave. Soon he was gone and almost immediately the sledge took another left. Moments later the sledge pulled up to the Temple of Kord standing with lights shining in all the windows facing the street.

Everyone except Jaby got off the sledge. He indicated he was going to head to the stable and make sure the grummons were taken care of. Then, he'd join them in the Temple. With that, the teamster headed off and quickly turned around the next corner.

Hesiciah indicated he was going to try to find someone to tell him something about his new helmet. Since he knew more about the town than she did, Nadia handed over the large blue rock from the Tombs for him to get appraised as well. The ranger took off in the direction of the trades quarter, hoping someone was still open.

Tahl indicated he hadn't had any real food since Mumson and said he was going to find an inn and order a steak. With that, he turned and headed off in search of an inn and a meal.

Nadia approached the Temple and noticed the front doors weren't guarded, but they were freshly swept of the ever-present snow. She pulled the doors fiercely and they finally opened. Inside, she quickly noticed that the normal worship area was disrupted... the left half of the sanctuary was set up as normal with areas for reflection, but the right was being set up as a soup kitchen or buffet.

Her struggles to push the door shut attracted a cleric with a broad chest and odd, low voice. He helped the halfling shove the door shut and then introduced himself as Brother Nevyenne - the abbot of this Temple. Nadia asked if she could grab a moment to pray and Nevyenne said she could - but that the temple was about to play host to a group of refugees from Red Elm.

Nadia moved to a series of benches on the left and began meditating as the clerics began to fill the tables with food and drink.

While this was going on, Hesiciah had found a store open. When he entered, he was completely surprised to find an old friend, Kinyan, behind the counter of The Sharper Mage. Both were equally floored at this and for quite a while the pair caught up on what had been going on recently.

One of Hesiciah's first questions was about his mother, Rhialeigh, and whether she was still looking for him. Kinyan looked stricken and related that the ranger's overprotective and pompous mother had come in regularly to pump him for information about Hesiciah's whereabouts.

But that was only for the first month or so after he had taken the job to deliver the messages to Sparburg with Brother Aldriss. Also, Kinyan was really happy that Hesiciah hadn't told him where he was going - so he didn't have to lie to her. Hesiciah thanked his friend and apologized for leaving him in the lurch like that. And to make it up to him, he'd brought the mage some business...

Kinyan agreed to appraise the rock gratis... it was a large, oddly-colored amethyst worth about 500 gold. It was odd enough that Kinyan offered the full 500 just because it was curious to find a piece that large. Hesiciah agreed to the exchange. The helmet, after it was cleaned up and identified was revealed to be a helm of comprehending languages and reading magic - a valuable find indeed for the ranger.

At the close of the identification, Kinyan indicated he was going to close up the shop early and invited Hesiciah over to the Star and Moon Inn. According to the mage, they'd gotten a new cook and he is really, really good. The ranger agreed and the pair set off for the inn, two blocks away.

When they arrived, Hesiciah noticed with a grin that Tahl was in the back corner of the inn already. A rare steak and a huge tankard of something were in front of the dragon shaman and they were disappearing quickly. He and Kinyan ordered the same and began talking animatedly.

As it turned out, Hesiciah talked much more than Kinyan. The mage was absolutely floored by the news that Sparburg had fallen to the Land of the Crystal Eye in such a violent manner. Kinyan wanted the whole story and Hesiciah began back with walking almost into Sparburg, but after seeing the burning buildings, hid outside of town until he met Chriton...

At this point, the ranger noticed (out of the corner of his eye) that the halfling alone at the adjacent table was attempting to listen in to the conversation. And the halfling was doing it... inexpertly. So inexpertly in fact, that when Hesiciah described the gallows that had been erected east of Sparburg, the halfling fell off of his chair and landed \crash/ in the floor practically at the pair's feet.

Kinyan immediately produced a wand and Hesiciah's sword threatened to nail the poor creature straight to the floor. But, in a squeeky voice, the halfling indicated he couldn't help but overhear. And, he added sadly, he was from that part of the country, and he couldn't believe what Hesiciah was saying about the Divinites.

The halfling was hauled onto a chair between Kinyan and Hesiciah who continued to grill the unfortunate creature. He introduced himself as Pip Squeak. (Don't your mean 'Peregrin'? No, just 'Pip') He had originally come from the halfling village of Rivenside, about three or four days north-west of Fort Bloodhill.

Being so close to a Divinte stronghold gave him a benchmark of how the Men and Women of the Eye conduct themselves, and what he had heard from Hesiciah clashed with his eyes-on experience. He voiced this opinion to Hesiciah and Kinyan in such an earnest manner that the pair believed him.

Deciding not to kill the little guy after all, Hesiciah finishes telling the pair his tale late into the night. None of the three noticed the innkeeper approach Tahl and hand him a letter. Moments after skimming the missive, Tahl pulled his winterlight cloak back on, wrote 'Temple of Kord - Tahl' on the bill, and disappeared back into the night.

Back at the Temple of Kord, Nadia was so deep in meditation that she didn't even register that the Temple's door had been opened again admitting a tall, thin elf. Taking advantage of the coming preparations, the elf scanned the temple and saw the tiny figure of Nadia among the pews.

Going by a half-remembered description from her brother, Kari silently wandered over until she was next to the rogue and reached out to touch her. In the fraction of the second between Kari's finger touching Nadia's outer garment and touching her skin, the rogue had vanished, apparently into thin air.

Clinging to the underside of the pew, Nadia didn't see the shock of the elf, who blinked several times, then looked around to see if she had been noticed. She had. Brother Nevyenne came over to admonish her against bothering the faithful while they were praying... and he tapered off... not seeing Nadia either.

"Strange. I didn't see the halfling leave." He commented. Nadia had, by now, moved down the pews and was observing the pair via a small mirror she kept concealed on her person for just this purpose. She heard every word the pair was saying over the clinking and clattering going on against the far wall.

Nadia listened to the elf and heard her claim to be the sister of Tahl and that he had given her Nadia's description. She told the cleric that she had decided to meet up with Nadia and travel with "The Children of the Fiery Fog" for a while. Nevyenne indicated that Nadia's description matched the pious halfling that had just been here, but he didn't see her leave.

Before the pair could say much more, however, the front door the Temple opened for a third time and a guardsman lead about twenty-five tired looking men, women and children. The refugees were welcomed enthusiastically in the name of Kord and were invited to partake of the bounty arrayed before them before lodging would be found for them.

Using this as a distraction, Nadia crept up behind Kari and picked her pocket. She found the elf's wallet and cart keys. In the wallet, she found Kari's cart driving license, organ donor card, an expired 'Scroll of the Month Club' card, a couple of poorly-drawn pictures (of pets), and a well-done drawing of her and Tahl standing at an overlook above Irontown. Nadia knew it was Irontown, because the sign behind the pair read "Irontown. 14 hours since the last major accident".

Satisfied the elf was telling the truth - at least about being Tahl's sister - she tapped the oblivious elf's shoulder and handed her back her wallet and keys saying 'You dropped these'. The perplexed elf took the proffered items and wordlessly returned them to her pocket.

Jaby took this moment to reappear, bearing his backpack and carrying his frumpy red hat. Brother Nevyenne warmly greeted the teamster like he was an old friend (he was). Jaby noticed Nadia and Kari at Nevyenne's side and chuckled. "Our arrival brought a sadness to the town, yet a great moment for Kord..." he then opened his rucksack and withdrew a flat hardcase that was wrapped up in several old changes of clothes. Nadia immediately recognized the case and began smiling.

When Jaby popped open the case, the two Sacred Chalices of Kord were revealed to Brother Nevyenne. For a moment, only a gasp escaped his lips, then, with shaking hands, he grasped the artifacts and looked them over. Moments later, his great wisdom told him that they were the genuine articles and he let out a cry of happiness that caused all in the Temple to turn and watch.

"What's more," continued a still smiling Jaby, "Nadia and her friends were the ones who found them... Oh, and Brother K'Tal says you owe him ten thousand gold, 'cos she's already been given the reward."

By this time the four had been surrounded by both clerics and priests of Kord. Several of the refugees had also joined the ring around Nadia. All let out triumphant shouts at the returns of the long-lost relics. Nadia found herself up on the shoulders of several of the more enthusiastic parishoners and was carried around the temple proper several times to the shouts of "Hail to the halfling!" and "Blessing of Kord be upon her!" among other shouts.

Finally, Brother Nevyenne called the procession back to the tables and had Nadia plopped back onto a bench and pressed a flagon into her hand. He then, in his most emphatic voice begged her to tell everyone the story of how and where she found the stolen chalices. Nadia drew her breath and told them everything.

Several hours and many shouts of outrage later, Nadia gleaned that no one in Yttil had heard of the loss of Sparburg. Her tale of the battle was the most recent news the city had of that area. Many were furious and not a few were totally dumbstruck by the tale.

Even though Nadia had had her mug refilled many times by eager servers, she dreaded finishing the tale because she knew that as soon as she finished, the questions would begin. Sure enough as she detailed the party's entrance into the city and ended with "the rest you know", she could hear the intake of breath from everyone and she braced for the incoming thousand and one questions...

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End of Session 37

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	39. Session 38

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Death and Prophecy

by

Rockbender (and small edits by Lady Demoonica Darkmoon)

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Session 38

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Nadia's story of the party's flight from Sparburg worried a great many of her audience that night. Many asked about repercussions and when the Brassite army might take it back. Nadia had no answer for that, as knowledge of the invasion might not yet have reached Lightlake.

Informing Brother Nevyenne that she and the party still had to travel to Elscore, Nadia requested any help that the Temple could provide. She related that the quest to return Princess Dirita's remains was still underway. Brother Nevyenne counseled against leaving for Elscore for at least another month, but indicated that the party's stores on board the wagon would be replenished that night.

Indicating that the party was still suffering from several bad nights on the road, Nadia retired for the evening. Rooms for her, Gruell, Kari, Hesiciah, and Jaby were made available and everyone quickly turned it. However, out of habit, Nadia sneaked out of her room and slept on the top of the wardrobe in Gruell's room.

Meanwhile, Aengus had finished filling in Brother Shawny about the trip he had been on to Red Fern... the Temple of Pelor's brotherhood was just as shocked as those in the Temple of Kord. Just as he was about ready to turn in, Aengus was surprised to see his mother and father come into the temple. They had heard their son had returned and wanted to see him.

Aengus' father, Kobe, is an expert gemcutter and his wife, Brahama, mixes potions for the use of the city guard. The pair were overjoyed to see their son (who had left the city quickly and had not been able to say goodbye). His mother began bugging him good-naturedly about his profession (Would it kill you, Aengus, to take one level of fighter? Then you'd be a Warrior of Pelor! Or maybe one of those fancy prestige classes...)

Having heard it all before, Aengus just smiled and nodded at his doting mother. Agreeing to have breakfast with them the next morning after morning prayers, Aengus then went to bed.

The next morning, Nadia examined the locks to the party's rooms and discovered that ... no one had disturbed any of them... A good night's sleep at last... Then the party went downstairs for morning prayers and (because this was the Temple of Kord) morning calisthenics.

During breakfast, Nadia and several of the party members noticed something odd about the food. Some of it tasted almost gritty, edible, but gritty. And the tankards of water tasted kind of off... so they stuck with the ale. Mmmmm... ale... Breakfast of Champions.

After breakfast, Aengus and Brother Shawny journeyed to the Temple of Kord and met with the rest of the party. When all was said and done, the party's wagon was refilled with food and water and both temples donated potions to the cause. Eight potions of cure light wounds, six potions of cure moderate wounds, and two dispel evil scrolls were added to the party's arsenal.

Acting on a hunch, Nadia left and wandered outside the temple to the nearest public well. She waited as people drew up buckets of water and she looked at the contents. Most of the people were worried that they were bringing up mostly sludge... the well -- normally full of water -- was drying up.

Nadia returned to Brother Nevyenne and relayed her fears. Nevyenne lead the way to the well beneath the temple, constructed in case of siege. When they reached it, he instructed a novice to descend on a rope and see what he found. With Gruell holding the end of the rope, the novice disappeared carrying a torch. "Mud... no water at all" came the eventual reply from the depths... the temple and indeed the whole city's water supply was drying up.

Nevyenne posted a quick missive to Castim Frost about his discovery and asked what the Temple could do to help the city out. Brother Shawny also signed the document for the Temple of Pelor. A runner quickly disappeared to the political district to the east of town. The cleric sadly commented that this was the worst disaster since the sewers almost caught on fire back in '01.

At this point, Aengus had an idea. He suggested to both temple leaders that they start having all the novices and lower level clerics begin to cast create water and fill every available barrel in the temples and continue until such a time as the water situation was fixed. Both Nevyenne and Shawny saw the wisdom in this and both hurried off to give the necessary orders. Soon, precious water was being created and stored in both temples.

While this was going on, Nadia had withdrawn to a corner and was pouring through her little, red notebook. She was reviewing the Prophecy for the thousandth time. "A great thirst and a black tide" was the line she was reading again. She shuddered to think at what a drought would do to this great city. Thinking logically, maybe the shifting of the river changed the water table in this area... thus draining the water away even half a day's travel away from the river.

Again, she questioned Nevyenne about the trip north to Elscor. The cleric indicated again that the party should probably stay for at least another month in Yttil before leaving. However, Nadia indicated they needed to leave immediately ... possibly later this day.

Nevyenne sighed and indicated that the route out of town directly north was the shortest route. However, it would take the party over open plains in the middle of snowstorm season. It would be at least four days before they made it through the pass leading across the Ramlent Wastes. It would take at least a week, maybe more to make it to Elscore.

Referring to the party's map, Nevyenne traced taking the southern road out of town and turning northeast at the Tombs. This route would take three or four days to reach the town of Hoarse Elk. There, the party could rest and then make the run around the southern flank of Drake Peak to the pass leading to the Ramlent Wastes and further north. Providing - of course -- that the shake didn't damage the road to Horse Elk too badly. The detour to Horse Elk would add another 4-5 days to their trip.

After weighing the advice, Nadia suggested that the side trip to Hoarse Elk sounded like the best plan, even if it meant slightly backtracking. Brother Nevyenne sighed and indicated that he would have Jaby ready the grummons for a quick departure.

Now, Nadia, Kari and Aengus began searching for Hesiciah. The last they knew, he had gone looking for someone to appraise the jewel that Nadia had found and identify the helmet he had traded for. Asking at the temple yielded the name of Kobe Beef, Aengus' father, who had a gemcutters shop in the trades district.

Along the way, the trio asked passersby about Hesiciah, to no avail. It was a good thing that Aengus knew the way, because after a while, all the yellow bricked streets and buildings began looking the same. When they finally reached Kobe's jewelry shop, they were tired from the cross-town trek.

They asked the dwarf if someone matching Hesiciah's description had come in yesterday to have the gem appraised. However, Kobe indicated that no one had shown him such a gem. He did say that one of the people that worked at The Sharper Mage at the other end of town also appraises stones.

The group said goodbye to the dwarf and headed for the other end of town. Luckily Aengus knew the way there also. When they reached the high-rent district, it was easy to pick out the Sharper Mage, as the sign was lit up with continual flame spells. A bell jingled merrily as they walked in.

As she walked over the threshold, Nadia heard someone say: "Hang on, Hesiciah, I've got a customer." Moments later, a yellow-robed young man stepped out behind the counter from the back room. "My name is Kinyan. Can I help you?" he said in a musical Voice. When he found out that the trio was looking for Hesiciah, he pulled aside the curtain where the ranger was sitting in an easy chair. Apparently the two had been talking for hours.

It became apparent to both Nadia and Aengus that Kinyan and Hesiciah had both been up very late the night before and had probably drunk far too much ale. Hesiciah looked positively incapable of travel and Kinyan looked little better.

It gradually came out that the two had been friends for years. While Hesiciah had become a ranger to leave the town and dodge his relatives, Kinyan had slowly become an accomplished sorcerer. He supplemented his income from the Sharper Mage by casting continual flame spells on all the lampposts of the city.

Apparently, the two had become friends because both loved animals. Kinyan always had the knack to find and train small animals. One of Kinyan's teachers explained to him that this was because he was spontaneously casting summon monster spells and didn't even know it.

Kinyan then began asking Nadia questions about adventuring. Apparently, Hesiciah had been spinning tales of finding huge amounts of gold. This intrigued the sorcerer, who mentioned that with 5000 gold, he could buy the store and run it how it should be run. He was sick of being a store clerk when he had just made it to fifth level as a sorcerer.

At this point, Kinyan asked if there was room for another spellcaster in the group. Nadia, Aengus, and Kari looked at each other and shrugged. Since Parvati's abrupt departure, there was a distinct lack of arcane magic in the group. They agreed to add Kinyan to the group. The sorcerer smiled and thanked them, wrote a quick 'I quit' on a piece of paper and stuck in on the cashbox and spent about two minutes packing a backpack with his most important possessions.

Meanwhile, sensing it was time to leave, Hesiciah was trying to stand... unsuccessfully. Finally, Kari picked up the ranger and slung him across her powerful shoulders and everyone trooped outside the shop. Pulling the door shut, Kinyan locked it and shoved the key under the door.

A quick trip back to the Temple of Kord later, the group reunited with Jaby and piled into the sledge. Nadia offered Kinyan the bunk above Hesiciah and the youth gratefully accepted. He didn't hear the halfling snickering imagining an elven princess staring longingly at a handsome human sorcerer.

With a groan and a lurch, the sledge took off heading back out of town. Through the streets of yellow brick and back toward the southern entrance -- now exit -- to the town. Hesiciah was already unconscious and Kinyan continued to talk about his friend, telling stories that made Kari and Nadia chuckle even more.

Finally, with a last wave to the city guard, the sledge left the City-State of Yttil and began the trip back toward the Tombs. With luck and a tailwind, they would arrive at the crossroads slightly before dark.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

End of Session 38

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	40. Session 39

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Death and Prophecy

by

Rockbender (and small edits by Lady Demoonica Darkmoon)

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Session 39

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Finally, with a last wave to the city guard, the sledge left the City-State of Yttil and began the trip back toward the Tombs. With luck and a tailwind, they would arrive at the crossroads slightly before dark.

Several hours later, Hesiciah truly woke up. After a mug of water to wash the taste of cheap ale from his mouth, he felt almost ... um ... human again... He joined Jaby up on the front seat.

Since the sledge was traveling downhill this time, and the grummons didn't have to walk even slower because of the refugees, and because they were on a proper road, the miles passed quickly. Soon, they could see in the darkening sky the conical Tombs north of the crossroads.

Hesiciah pulled out his eyes of the eagle and used them to watch out for danger up ahead. Looking south from the Tombs, he noticed several dots moving north at high speed. He alerted Jaby and the rest of the party and continued watching. Soon, the shapes resolved into fast-moving horses, then horses with riders, then as the group turned at the Tombs and headed towards Yttil, Hesiciah recognized the leader as Captain Tanane who was coming back to Yttil.

Since everyone had been warned, everyone took what they thought were suitable defensive measures. Naida hopped onto the back of a grummon and hid inside it's fur (it smacked at her with its tail until she stopped pulling its hair so hard). Aengus and Kinyan watched from inside the sledge, and Kari - unaffected by the cold - hopped on top of the sledge and observed.

Soon, the horses were upon the sledge. Captain Tanane came to a stop, but waved the other riders to "Ride on! Get the wounded to Yttil!" As the riders screamed by, Hesiciah noted that he had been correct: two of the riders had been tied to their horses and were slumped over unconscious or worse.

A white-robed human with a backpack rode behind the old warrior. Tanane got down to business. He told the party that his group had ridden as far as Mumson. He held his breath a moment and then related that Gadfly had been destroyed by the shake just as Red Elm had. However, Mumson had not been affected at all - the river had moved, but not anywhere near the edge of town.

In Mumson, the riders had met riders from Red Fern who had ridden north since the shake had hit there also. According to the Red Fern guards, Sad Dock was gone also... the river had moved so dramatically it had wiped the town off the map... not even the stone dock remained and the river now ran to the west of where the town once stood. Widelake, however, had been blessed: the river had returned to the location it had held four hundred years ago. The wide lake outside of town was refilling - though the townsfolk had lost some stock because the wide lake bottom had become the city's animal pen and not all were rescued before the waters came.

But what of Red Fern? Captain Tanane shook his head and said that that was the most dramatic change of all. The Walking River had been bisecting the city. But the shake moved the river to about a half a mile or more to the east of the city, and had pushed the easternmost part of the city up against the westernmost. It was as if the river had never been there. All the bridges that had been built across the river were now crushed piles of rubble and the houses and buildings that were up against the river, now were up against the buildings that had been across the river!

"And..." continued the Captain, "there was very little actual destruction on the west side of town and no loss of life at all!" At this, Nadia was immensely relieved as her family resided on the west side of town. "The only sticking point" Tanane said, "is that the river used to supply the town's water. But now, they'll have to bring it in on wagons from the river, or the city will run dry." Once again, Nadia's mind replayed the Prophecy: "A great thirst and a black tide".

Nadia, then decided to crawl down the side of her grummon, underneath it, under the grummon next to that one, and conceal herself there (so she could see Captain Tanane better). However, as she tried this stunt, she lost her grip on the second great beast and she plopped into the snow. She wisely stayed still until the captain's attention was directed elsewhere.

"Luckily, one of the riders from Red Fern said that the local Temple of Pelor had acquired a well..." finished the captain, "But they didn't go into much detail about it." Wisely, the party didn't go into the 'incident' of the fountain in the temple. It was time for the party to change the subject.

When asked about his passenger, Tanane introduced Orfeo - a wizard of Red Elm - who had been out west of town for the last several days gathering material components. He returned to find the town destroyed. The riders had found him just this morning on their way through the ruins of the town and had brought him along.

When someone mentioned the wounded among the riders, the Captain looked uncomfortable and said that he didn't feel right discussing it. Orfeo and Kari began badgering him with questions and he finally lost his temper. Swinging Orfeo off of the back of his mount, he said "Join up with this lot or walk the rest of the way to Yttil! I've got men to tend to." And he rode off towards Yttil's gates.

Orfeo shrugged and accepted Aengus's hand to pull him into the sledge. When questioned, he indicated that the wounded had already been wounded when he was picked up in Red Elm this morning. He had no idea what had happened. Jaby called back to the party and said that - if he remembered correctly - about an hour up the northeast road from the Tombs was a traveler's shelter built by the faithful of the Wandering God. He thought it might make a good place to stop for the night. Everyone thought it sounded like a good idea, and the sledge started up again.

South, then east, then the group was passing the Tombs. Nadia noticed that there had been a landslide or something because the hole from which the undead had come was filled in again. A layer of snow covered the bare strip and the Tombs looked quiet once again. Nothing bothered the group as they passed and moved to the northeast road toward Hoarse Elk.

Hesiciah had just moved back inside the sledge and was hotly contesting Karado's latest story about him: "I had nothing to do with Ytill's sewers catching on fire!" proclaimed the ranger: "It was all YOUR idea!" ("I've heard this story..." muttered Nadia to herself.) Suddenly, the sledge stopped and everyone piled out in confusion.

The bridge was gone. The bridge that crossed the Walking River to the road on the other side was gone. Only the barest bit of the foundations were left... and the river 'walked' about fifty feet to the east. Jaby nodded sadly that going might be a little more rough now, since they'd have to cut cross-country parallel to the river over areas that had no road. Hopefully, he said, there'd be a good place to ford ahead.

Piling back in, the group left Jaby to find a good spot, and Hesiciah hopped back on the outside seat to lend his eyes to searching in the gathering dark. A rough half-a-mile later, Jaby and Hesiciah noticed that the river widened from about fifty feet to about a hundred feet. Hesiciah hopped off and waded into the ice-cold water. Even though the winterlight cloak helped him, it was still bitterly cold. However, at about halfway across, it was only up to his waist, so he sloshed back out.

The ranger and Jaby conferred and decided that if Kari helped brace the upstream back corner of the sledge, they could float it across, pulled by the grummons that wouldn't even notice the cold. Since the dragon shaman was immune to all but the most extreme cold, she agreed. Her high strength would keep the sledge from swinging too far out of line in the sluggishly-moving water.

Everyone took precautions: Nadia tied a rope around herself and to the sledge, Aengus did the same and he readied his grappling crossbow, Kinyan lit up the corners of the sledge with continual flame so everyone could see (and then he and Orfeo held on for dear life), Hesiciah grabbed the front, upstream side of the sledge as Kari grabbed the back, upstream side, and Jaby shook his head wondering how he got talked into ferrying this bunch of weirdos around the central lands.

When everyone was ready, Jaby called for the grummons to move forward into the water. SPLASH! Moments later, the sledge dipped into the water, and, to the amazement of all, it did float. With Kari and Hesiciah steadying it, it floated adequately towards the opposite bank. After a couple of minutes of sloshing, the first of the grummons sloshed onto the far shore, and that's when everyone heard the splash.

Everyone (but Jaby) turned and saw the swirl in the water where Kari had just been standing holding the back corner of the sledge. Aengus's dwarvish vision caught sight of Kari below the water, apparently struggling with something. With no regard for his own safety, he leaped into the water next to his comrade.

Nadia also estimated where her friend was and dove into the water, trusting to the winterlight cloak to keep her from freezing and the rope to keep her from getting dragged away. Hesiciah also moved as fast as he could to the spot where he saw Kari last. Kinyan leaned out of the back of the sledge and spoke a word of magic and then held on as it began to pull free of the river and back to the snowy shore.

Kari, meanwhile was very angrily punching and kicking at something that had grabbed her and pulled her beneath the surface. She had been grabbed and pulled waist-deep in the silt and sediment at the bottom of the river. She felt razor-sharp rocks grinding against the leggings of her armor and got the unnerving image in her mind that the river was trying to eat her. Then, of course, people started piling on her.

She figured it was Nadia on top of her head, and Aengus grabbing her left arm, but who was it grabbing her right arm? TUG! Must be Hesiciah and his 18 strength, that HURT! But at least she was only knee deep in the muck now with her head finally above water. GASP!

Kari kicked into the muck at the bottom of the river, but that didn't do much damage at all. Then, of course, the ropes holding Nadia and Aengus to the wagon went taut. Now several thousand pounds of grummon were also pulling on Kari and with a sickening slurp, she pulled free from the bottom...

... but the river bottom kept moving. As the party sloshed or were pulled ashore, the water erupted and a huge, shapeless mass rose from the depths. It would be roughly man-shaped (if men were 12 or 13 feet high, as many broad, and made of shimmering black silt which washed down off of the top of the beast and cascaded back into the river.

Adding to the terribly strange... thing's... appearance was a 5-foot-wide dark green octopus wrapping around the thing's 'head'. Kinyan yelled that he had summoned the fiendish octopus to fight whatever dragged Kari under... it was a summoned monster fighting the thing for us!

Someone screamed for Jaby to stop the sledge and he did so. Moments later, Nadia and Aengus had scooted to shore and cut themselves free. Kari grasped her blade and slowly backed away from the thing as it moved towards her. Teeth chattering, Aengus raised his shield at the river's edge to await the creature. Nadia disappeared into a small copse of bushes next to the river and became invisible to friend and foe alike.

Kinyan and Orfeo screamed words of magic and magic missiles tore into the creature, blowing chucks of shale and rock off. Nadia flung her returning dagger, which returned doing little damage. The beast swung with two powerful 'arms' at Kari who was damaged badly by the jagged rocks embedded in the things 'fists'. Also, the creature was apparently shrugging off the attacks by the octopus, and anyone standing within 10 feet of it was having trouble standing, as the ground beneath their feet began shaking uncontrollably.

As the battle raged on, Orfeo wracked his brains to try to figure out what the creature might be. He finally yelled his thoughts to the party. "There's a plane between water and earth called the plane of silt. This might be a silt elemental." Moments later he added: "And they usually travel in pairs!"

At this, everyone in the party backed out and away from the water...

However, tense moments later, after Kari had blasted the thing's face with fire, and Aengus had smashed it with his hammer, and Orfeo and Kinyan had blasted it with more magic missles, the creature was reduced to a slowly-dissolving pile of silt and grit just at the edge of the river.

Having been badly wounded in the attack, Kari stepped forward and began angrily kicking apart the mound. After she had finished, Nadia came over and began sifting through the 'remains'. She found several pretty, pretty stones that were still slick with Kari's blood. "Hey! What are you doing getting your blood all over my gems!" she taunted the dragon shaman as she went over to get some healing from Aengus.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

End of Session 39

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	41. Session 40

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Death and Prophecy

by

Rockbender (and small edits by Lady Demoonica Darkmoon)

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Session 40

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Having been badly wounded in the attack, Kari stepped forward and began angrily kicking apart the mound. After she had finished, Nadia came over and began sifting through the 'remains'. She found several pretty, pretty stones that were still slick with Kari's blood. "Hey! What are you doing getting your blood all over my gems!" she taunted the dragon shaman as she went over to get some healing from Aengus.

By this time, Jaby had gotten the grummons under control and everyone slowly piled back into the wagon. Another mile crawled slowly by and the night was pitch black as low clouds had covered the stars. Not even the moon shed her gaze down on the slowly plodding animals.

Finally, Jaby stopped by the 'Journeyman's House' -- a small cottage set aside for the use of travelers. Nadia lightly jumped down and examined the front door of the stoutly-built 20x20 building. The snow was piled high and undisturbed, so Nadia pulled open the door and entered. A huge fireplace decorated the center of the north wall and two sets of bunk beds were pushed up against the east and west walls. Tightly shuttered windows were between each sets of beds and two more framed the front door.

The ceiling was peaked and braced with heavy wooden beams. A small pile of wood was stacked next to the fireplace and an old, but still serviceable axe leaned against the stone. As Nadia leaned in and let the light play around the room, she noticed writing chiseled into the stone mantle. She read, "Chop your own wood and warm yourself twice." Orfeo, who had followed the rogue in, also read the inscription and muttered "And your lucky numbers are..." before he turned and claimed a bunk.

Aengus came in, read the inscription, grunted in his best dwarven fashion, took up the axe and wandered outside to chop some wood. Kari dumped the chunks of wood into the fireplace and -- with a blast of her fire breath -- soon had a merry blaze going. It didn't take long for the small lodge to warm up significantly.

Jaby came back in after tethering the grummons to the north side of the lodge and commented that Aengus was chopping up a storm in a small copse of trees to the north west of the cabin. Kinyan hopped up and went out to assist the dwarf.

While everyone was getting ready for bed, Nadia decided to try to climb up the sides of the lodge up to the rafters. She accomplished this speedily and decided to hang her hammock from the top of the rafters. Not to be outdone, Kari tried the same trick, but -- lacking her brother's spider climb ability -- she fell unceremoniously to the floor.

Aengus and Kinyan finally returned to the cabin with enough firewood for the night. Kinyan dropped back into bed disturbing Orfeo's wizard studies. They proceeded to bicker most of the rest of the evening about sorcery versus wizardry until everyone told them to shut up.

Calling down from her perch above the group, Nadia said she'd take first watch. Orfeo said he'd take the next, because he was going to have to be up early studying anyway (he ignored Kinyan's snickering). Aengus agreed to take the last watch.

Everyone slept. Nadia woke Orfeo at the appropriate time and he got out his books and studied. He studied so hard he studied halfway through Aengus' watch before he realized it. In getting out of bed to wake the dwarf, he accidentally woke Kinyan. And as the sorceror awoke, the pair heard the grummons making that strange groaning noise they sometimes made when they were spooked.

After a whispered consultation, Kinyan pulled on his boots, took an everburning torch, and quietly left the lodge. He wandered around back to where the grummons were tethered. He found nothing but the grummons and the footprints of Jaby and well as his and Aengus'.

He returned to the lodge, but noticed something disturbing about the door to the lodge. Upon it, were written these words:

"Five become two -- benefitting one"

"Four of the chosen have fought -- and two survive",

"Three more acts in this tragedy"

"Two return the princess -- or is it one?"

"One wash of dark water then flows..."

Upon examination, it looked to Kinyan like someone had written the words with the burnt end of a stick... or perhaps a burnt piece of wood out of a campfire.

After absorbing this information, Kinyan entered the lodge quietly and described what he had seen to Orfeo. The pair decided to leave it until the morning and Orfeo woke Aengus for the last couple of hours before dawn.

The next morning, everyone awoke and ate. After this, Jaby pulled on his gear to leave and get the grummons ready, when Orfeo decided to try to play a prank. He cast ghost sound on the door and had an 'otherworldly voice' recite the words written on the other side of the door. Jaby was completely fooled, but Aengus, Nadia, and Kinyan noticed him casting the spell.

Orfeo finally stopped the spell and indicated what he had heard and what Kinyan had found. Nadia ripped the door open and read the words, written in soot on the door. Out came her little red book, and the words were copied in it along with her research on the Prophecy. She made a couple of comments on what she believed the words actually meant, but she couldn't make any kind of definite association except for the 'wash of dark water' sounded awfully like the 'black tide' of the Prophecy.

Now that it was light, Orfeo examined the black soot on the door. He examined it, wiped it off, and subjected it to a couple of non-magical tests. He pronounced it not from a campfire, but a much more hot fire -- perhaps a structure as large as a house. Nadia asked if it could have been a huge bonfire, but Orfeo didn't think so, he believed it was from a large wooden building that burned down... but he couldn't get anymore information from the burnt cinders. He dusted off his hands and hopped into the wagon.

The lodge was cleaned out -- including erasing the front door -- and the party was on the road again. Soon, the building was far behind them, and, according to Jaby, they would be to the town of Hoarse Elk in about a day and a half. After a long day of travel, the group stopped on the side of the road and spent a cold night with the Walking River running just to the north. Jaby indicated that soon, they'd have to ford the river again.

The next day, after two hours of travel, Jaby was proven right. The river had cut across the road again -- hopefully for the last time. According to the map that the party had, at this point the river turns almost directly east and its headwaters emerge from the base of the Drakespines, fed by Lake Vangee.

A good spot to ford the river was found, and Orfeo volunteered to walk across first to make sure it was shallow enough. He made it, though he was shaking from the cold. He used a cantrip to dry out his robes and was okay.

Everyone took their positions at the wagon, and Kari and Hesiciah grabbed the downstream side of the wagon's corners and Jaby lead the creatures into the water.

At this point all hell broke loose...

... well, okay, it wasn't 'all hell' but it wasn't pretty.

Halfway across the river, the bolt that shackled the grummons to the wagon sheared clean in half. The grummons, free of the weight of the wagon, practically surged forward and popped out the far side of the river. Jaby, who was (of course) holding the reigns when this happened was violently yanked off of his seat and found himself being dragged through the icy cold water. He almost lost his hat in the process.

However, by the time he had gotten to his feet and commenced swearing, he stopped, overwhelmed by the site of Hesiciah and Kari casually pushing the huge wagon up out of the water onto the snow-covered bank. (1)

Jaby went back and replaced the bolt and hitched the grummons back up. Since then, he continues to look at Kari and Hesiciah with something akin to awe. Soon, the group was back on the road.

The Walking River was swiftly left behind. Soon, the party was right between the northern Drake Peak and the southern Lizard Peak. After a quick lunch break, the party reached the outskirts of Hoarse Elk about three hours before sundown.

Hoarse Elk is a low-key frontier town. Nestled between Drake and Lizard Peak, and at the westernmost edge of Lake Vangee, the town had obviously fared well for itself. Only the occasional goblin raid from the northern caverns keeps the town on its toes. But the heavy wooden palisade around the city to the north keeps the goblin vermin at bay.

With a wave and a word from Jaby, the doors of the town were opened wide. Looking behind, Aengus noted that the slowly-rising plains they had been crossing were looking more and more grim. He knew that on the other side of Drake Peak started the Ramlent Wastes and he could see the black wall of dark storm clouds slowly moving through the mountains. He knew from past experience that Darkmont would be a cold and windy and unpleasant month.

But within the walls of Horse Elk, the atmosphere was almost cheery. Children pelted each other with snowballs and one sharpshooter even dared to try to knock Jaby's hat from his head. Jaby took this good-naturedly and didn't dig heavily into his bag of nasty language. Soon, the group had pulled in front of the strongly-built and prominently-placed Temple of Kord. Alighting, the group made their way inside and met with Brother Bether, a powerfully built dwarf who welcomed everyone in Kord's name.

Leaving the rest of the group to fill Bether in on the story so far, Kari and Aengus went out to get a drink at a local pub. Orfeo decided he wanted to do some research at the local library... but then remembered he had several dozen library books already out that were destroyed in the razing of Red Elm. So he grabbed Kinyan and had him go in his stead. Kinyan rolled his eyes and agreed.

Nadia and Jaby stayed and talked to Brother Bether for many hours. Their news was the 'freshest' to his ears since the winter season had started. Luckily, according to the cleric, the terrible weather had yet to hit Hoarse Elk, though from all indications, Darkmont was going to be epic this year. He understood the party's errand to Danscar, but commented that regardless of preparations, travel this coming month would be very, very difficult between here and the elven city.

Jaby finally retired and Nadia went off in search of the rest of the group.

Aengus and Kari had wandered down to the docks to look for a place to get something to drink, something to eat, and some more to drink. They wandered down Seebreeze Lane and finally found a place to their liking. A sign outside of 'Bloody Bill's' promised food and ale and plenty of both. The entered and finally got seats with their backs to the wall. Soon they were both full of fish (some kind of grouper and some kind of trout) and the ale wasn't half bad either. The clientele was about average for a frontier town with the occasional longshoreman jabbering endlessly to someone in a cape and hood sipping from a flask.

Eventually, Orfeo and Kinyan poked their noses in, saw the pair, and joined them. Something about the caped figure across the room, by the door bothered Kari, but not enough to cause a ruckus. Finally, the figure stood and quickly made their way out of the door before Kari could stop him. Ten seconds later, after maneuvering around the bar, she popped the door open to follow, and ran smack into Nadia. The rogue had just come around the corner and had not seen anyone exit, so Kari let the topic drop for now.

Naida joined the group who now were lining up drinks and soon two longshoremen asked to join the game. Soon, Orfeo, Aengus, Kari, and the two boatmen were tossing back mugs of ale as fast as they could swallow them. Apparently the local ale was too strong for Kari who collapsed after the third round, but so did the taller of the longshoremen, named 'Xinder'. His buddy, 'Allon' grabbed his friend and, with a laugh, dragged him out of 'Bloody Bill's' telling the party he'd see them around.

Nadia, unimpressed by the drinking game, left almost immediately after Allon and Xinder. As she walked back to the Temple of Kord, a dark streak in the sky caught her by surprise. With a tired *WHUMP* Bear landed beside her looking annoyed and shagged out. The rogue noticed a missive tied around Bear's leg and quickly she returned with him to her quarters in the Temple.

She unwrapped the tiny parchment scrap which, when unfolded, popped by some kind of magic into two full page documents. The first was a missive from Sister Kinree at the Temple of Pelor. In it, Kinree wrote of the Shake and that Nadia's family was safe on the western side of town. She indicated that she was sending a work that Brother Karado had illuminated a few days before his death. She also commented that the party's creation of the fountain in the sanctuary has now become a blessing since the river no longer flows through the city to provide water. Finally, she noted with some concern that Brother Karado has resisted being raised from the dead... and no-one has any idea why.

Nadia put away the note, intending to share it with the party at a later date. She then took up the illuminated manuscript and compared it to the blood-soaked note found in Karado's quarters. To her trained eyes, the writing looked identical. She yawned, found some food for Bear (he cawed appreciatively) and then Nadia collapsed into bed.

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End of Session 40

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

(1) Okay. Jaby (NPC) blew his Teamster roll (natural 1). The wagon blew its save vs crushing blow (natural 1). So this meant the grummons were free of the wagon and the only thing keeping the wagon (and the party) from floating downstream were Hesiciah (STR~18) and Kari (STR~22). I had them both roll Strength tests... they both rolled natural 20s... Now the rulebooks say two people (even ones so strong) couldn't move a ton of wagon, but the Rule of Cool says differently. Sometimes the magic works...


	42. Session 41

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Death and Prophecy

by

Rockbender (and small edits by Lady Demoonica Darkmoon)

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Session 41

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Nadia put away the note, intending to share it with the party at a later date. She then took up the illuminated manuscript and compared it to the blood-soaked note found in Karado's quarters. To her trained eyes, the writing looked identical. She yawned, found some food for Bear (he cawed appreciatively) and then Nadia collapsed into bed.

The next morning, Kari was still recovering from the drinking game last night when Nadia wandered downstairs into the Temple of Kord. Jaby met her with some bad news. Apparently, on the trip between Yttil and Hoarse Elk, two of the grummons had thrown their shoes. It was going to take about a day to get new ones made and get them put on, so the party was going to be stuck in town for today at least. Nadia made several inquiries in the temple, then took off into the town in search of a jeweler to look at the opals that she found in the remains of the silt elemental days before.

Aengus also decided to sleep in and made the most of his soft bed at the temple. Orfeo, however, decided to suck it up and return to the Hoarse Elk library and pay his outstanding overdue library fines. Looking sheepish, he paid the 6 gold and Conan the Librarian started being civil to him again. He continued his research into local legends of magic items.

Nadia found the jeweler, an absent-minded half-elf, while he was working on something else. After a hurried examination, he offered Nadia 100 gold for each stone. She looked at him awkwardly, declined, and retreated back to the streets with the gems. She then decided to wander around town and climb some walls.

Orfeo dug through the Hoarse Elk Public Library for about five hours researching local legends. He uncovered a lot of information about the founders of the town - a family of powerful sorcerers named "Wraithwood". Thinking that that would be a good avenue of research, he worked on it. He uncovered that both the town of Hoarse Elk and the town of Lakeshore (on the eastern side of Lake Vangee) were both founded by the Wraithwoods. Using the calendar of the Kingdom of the Amulets, Lakeshore was founded in the year GC(1) 95 (Divinite year SA[2] 17). Hoarse Elk was founded in GC 99 and SA 20.

However, after the year GC 406 - not even a year after 'the shake' - the Wraithwoods vanished from both Lakeshore and Hoarse Elk, taking even their ancestral home from it's place overlooking Lake Vangee in Lakeshore. The populace woke up one winter morning and the family and house were gone by powerful magic - only the foundation of their mansion remained. After several years, the town used the foundation to build a temple to Pelor.

Orfeo carefully considered the current Brassite date of 805, he noted that the Wraithwoods vanished 400 years ago. The last edict of note by the family was that the island created (in some manner) by 'the shake' was to be named 'Mossroot' and it was to be off-limits to exploration. By order of the family, no one was to even attempt to land on it because of 'wild, unpleasant magic'. This edict was upheld until GC 490, when a Brassite group landed on it to test the Wraithwood's examination. There was no further mention of the family in the library.

While Orfeo researched the day away, at noon Kari finally decided to try to go downstairs for a light lunch. She headed back towards Bloody Bill's and got there just in time for some fresh-caught fish from the docks. While she sat there poking at her food, she caught sight of the figure that she had noticed the night before near the door. Feeling exasperated (as well as a little hung over) she accosted the short fellow with 'Do I know you from somewhere before?'

The figure sheepishly removed his hood and Kari recognized Pip Squeak - the halfling druid that she had briefly met back in Yttil. He tried to explain his presence in Hoarse Elk with 'I just got here'. She waved the explanation away and went back to her food, motioning him to follow. Luckily, Aengus came into the bar and the conversation shifted away from him. Nervously, Pip poked at his food wondering how the group would take it if they knew he'd stowed away on the sledge in mouse form for the whole trip to Hoarse Elk... Awkward, that...

While eating, the trio observed the door open to admit Brother Bether. He made a brief wave to Carl in the back and hastened to the party's table. He greeted everyone and asked Kari if she had seen Nadia this morning. Kari shook her head (slowly) and said she hadn't. Bether then asked her to relay a message that he wished to see her at the temple of Kord as soon as possible. Kari and Aengus agreed to relay the info and the cleric thanked them and left.

At this moment, Nadia was having fun casing the town. She had already made a couple of interesting discoveries. First, the town's defenses were almost completely pointed northward consisting of a thick wall of sharpened tree trunks treated with some fire-resistant goop. Along the north wall, three stout towers surveyed the northern plains leading to the southern flank of the northern Drakespine mountains. One stoutly-built and heavily defended door lead out to the north.

Hidden on the rooftop of one of the two-story homes near the north wall, Nadia surveyed the town. The western wall of the town didn't look nearly as well-built, with only two towers covering the entire western defenses. To the south, she didn't see any towers at all. Both the northern and southern walls terminated in the lake, making attack from that quarter difficult at best.

Nadia noticed that her wanderings had lead her back nearly to the temple of Kord, which - she noticed - was very close to the north wall. She also noticed the four-story bell tower of the temple and she smiled thinking 'a challenge!'

Within a couple of minutes, she had hidden herself in a blind spot, shielded (she hoped) from watching eyes. She began her ascent, but when she reached the level of the second floor roof, her hands slipped from the wall and she fell. __SPLAT!__ into a snowbank.

Regaining her feet, she tried again, but as soon as she reached the same spot, she slipped again and fell. She stared at the wall of the temple trying to figure out how it had stopped her twice, when Brother Bether walked around the far corner of the temple towards the entrance. 'Ah, Nadia!' he said happily, 'I've been looking for you! I have something you should see.' With that, he steered the confused halfling back into the temple and into his office.

Waving her into a seat and taking his, he continued gravely. "Nadia, I know it is the goal of your group to travel north to Danscar. However, I must warn you about the weather... Darkmont is death for travelers - even such stout ones as you.' He paused to let this sink in. 'Would you like to see what you are facing?' Nadia nodded and the cleric lead her out of the office, through two rooms, and up a long, spiral staircase that Nadia figured must be the bell tower.

At the top, the mighty bell was revealed as well as a surprisingly wide walkway giving an amazing view of the countryside. The wind buffeted the pair as they looked around. Bether pointed west and Nadia could see through the late afternoon sky that huge, black thunderheads were rolling slowly eastward - up the long, slow slope that the party had just transversed the day before. The cleric passed Nadia a spyglass that had been in the pocket of his jacket - a faded tag reading '1000 gp' dangled from the end. Using it, she could make out little past the storm front.

Bether spoke: 'Do you see now that to travel that path would mean doom for your group?' Nadia assented and asked with a smile if there would be something for the group to do while spending a month in Hoarse Elk. Bether laughed and said that he'd think of something worthwhile for the party to do.

While she was up there, Nadia swept her gaze around the compass points in an attempt to find some way to avoid being trapped here for a month, when she saw something to the north. She leveled the spyglass on a black speck that had just appeared on the white canvas between the town and the mountains. The dot resolved into a small, thin humanoid running at top speed through the foot-to-a-foot-and-a-half snow blanketing the plains. She alerted Bether and handed him back the spyglass. He took a long look and commented that it looked like someone was trying to get to the town at high speed from the direction of the goblin caves.

Moments later, the cleric gasped and indicated that he was watching several other figures that had appeared and seem to be chasing the first figure. Nadia grabbed the eyeglass back and quickly counted at least five smaller creatures and three very tall ones among the 'pursuers'. She commented that someone should rally the town guard and someone else should ride forth and try to find out who the quarry was. Bether retrieved the spyglass and commented wryly that Nadia had wanted something to do... and here was a rescue mission tailor-made for adventurers.

As Nadia skipped down the spiral stairs, she heard Brother Bether yelling from the tower to the town guards marching below. She zoomed out the front door and within minutes she was at Bloody Bill's. A hurried conversation with everyone sent herself, Pip, Orfeo, Aengus, and Kari sprinting to the north gate. Arriving at a full run, Kari commandeered a horse and was off out the gate in a flash. Pip swung expertly into the saddle of another and pulled Nadia up behind him. Orfeo did the same, and -- after a moment of panic caused by a badly-seated saddle -- Aengus followed suit, his horse only marginally behind the wizard's.

Kari outdistanced the rest of the party, but she was so intent on moving forward, she drifted westward of the mark. It was Pip and Nadia who found the sprawled-out figure on the snow. Motioning to their shamanic companion, the three party members rode up next to the prone figure. Kari jumped off of her horse long enough to see if the thinly-dressed figured was still alive - he was, but barely. Then, as Orfeo rode up, she slung the unconscious figure on the back of his horse and Nadia quickly tied him to the saddle for the ride back.

That is, of course, when the pursuers arrived through the darkening evening. There were five gobinoids and three green and loathsome trolls. Upon seeing that they weren't alone on the frozen plain, the three trolls bellowed a battle cry and charged the party. Orfeo unleashed a fireball on the trolls enraging the three even more. Kari climbed back into the saddle and drew her flaming sword... and chaos ensued...

Within moments, the trolls had smashed into the party. Orfeo -- who had stood fast to cast the fireball -- got caught by two troll claws and was wounded terribly. One other troll clawed ineffectually at Aengus, and the third, burned badly by Orfeo's fireball continued to face Kari's flame breath. Nadia rolled off from behind Pip and disappeared into the snow. She worked her way under and behind the trolls and the slower-moving gobins.

With Kari, Pip, and Aengus working on the trolls, Orfeo turned on his horse and beat a strategic retreat. Checking the unconscious figure behind him, he determined it was an emaciated half-elf wearing little more than a thin layer of rags. He slung a cloak over the figure and continued watching the battle.

Pip had summoned a thoqqua and the rock worm was moving under the feet of the trolls making it difficult for them to land a blow on the mounted party. The trolls couldn't afford to ignore it, either, because when they ignored it, it blasted them with fire damage.

Finally, Nadia made it behind the goblins. She popped up and flung her returning dagger at one, slaying it outright with massive sneak attack damage. The others turned and yelled something in goblin and -- at that sound -- the trolls turned and charged her.

Which was what Kari had been waiting for. As the troll she had been fighting turned toward Nadia, she struck it a mighty blow with her flaming sword. Apparently that was enough for the troll, and it ran right by Nadia -- the other two trolls following at great speed.

Seeing their muscle deserting them, the goblins also turned tail and ran into the night, but not before Nadia knocked one of them flat with the pommel of her dagger. She quickly tied up the unconscious goblin and Kari dropped it across her saddle with a shrug.

Smiling at Nadia, Pip reached down and pulled her back up behind him and the four rode back to meet Orfeo. When they reached him minutes later, he was seen frantically waving for everyone to catch up. When they did so, Orfeo related that the figure had stopped breathing. Kari jumped into action activating her healing ability and bringing the half-elf back to the land of the living.

Realizing that more could be done for the figure by getting him back to town and getting a bowl of chicken soup in him, the party turned and began the return to Hoarse Elk at a brisk trot.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

End of Session 41

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For those keeping track:

1. GC - Grand Compact - The year of the creation of the Kingdom of the Amulets. The signing in the fall began year '1' of the calendar.

2. SA - Seer Ascendant - To honor the Seer, the Land of the Crystal Eye voluntarily redrew its calendar to make year '0' the year his Vision Quest began. He returned to the LotCE in the summer of year '1' (GC: 79).


	43. Session 42

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Death and Prophecy

by

Rockbender (and small edits by Lady Demoonica Darkmoon)

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Session 42

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Now away from the rush of combat, Orfeo began to feel his wounds worsening. He urged his horse on back toward Hoarse Elk faster and faster. The rest of the party rode on beside the wizard and his motionless passenger.

Far ahead the walls of Hoarse Elk were bright with torches. The watchtowers were lit and everyone could imagine the faces filled with dread peaking over the wall -- was it an invasion? For sure, that was what was on the citizen's minds.

Pip stopped his horse long enough to dash off a quick note on a scrap of parchment explaining little more than 'Have healers at the gate!' He summoned his animal companion -- Squeeble the hawk -- and lashed the note quickly to his leg and sent him on forward to the town. He knew that Squeeble would get there much faster than they would in the dark.

A quick glance at the passengers indicated that the half-elf would make it, his breathing was regular again. However, he was going to need some serious recovery time, as he looked more like an animated skeleton than a living being.

The smelly goblin was still unconscious from Nadia's blow. She listened to his muttering in his sleep and deduced he was having a nightmare about being forced to take a bath. She relayed this to Kari and she turned and shouted 'Next time, we use soap!' The goblin whimpered pathetically in his sleep.

The ride north at full gallop had taken the better part of an hour, the ride back took almost a full hour for night had fallen and none of the party wanted to risk the animals hurting themselves in a dark dash back to the town.

Finally, the party approached the city gates and found them flung open. A healer's cart awaited them and as soon as they were inside, the huge doors slammed shut behind them. Healers from the temple of Kord loaded the stranger and Orfeo into a wagon of straw and with muttered prayers they very carefully pulled it back towards the temple. Orfeo waved 'bye' as Nadia and Kari faced the city guard.

The captain of the guard -- whose name was Bremen -- was relieved by the news that it wasn't an invasion, but his mood darkened at the sight of the goblin prisoner. Some fast talking by Kari and Nadia, however, convinced him to let the party 'question' the goblin first. He agreed to take the creature into custody after the interrogation. Kari slung the still-unconscious goblin over her shoulder and everyone took off for the temple of Kord.

Arriving at the temple, Nadia, Pip, and Kari found that Orfeo and the other had already been taken down to the infirmary. They walked into the main area and discovered Brother Bether giving a pep talk to the clerics extolling them to show the strength of Kord if this was indeed another goblin invasion. He spun around when he heard the party enter. All in the room were relieved that the 'invasion' consisted of the one unconscious goblin slung over Kari's shoulder.

Bether wanted to know what the filthy creature was doing here and Nadia and Kari explained that they were going to question it about the goings-on the goblin caves and why they were so keen on getting the poor guy they'd rescued back. He nodded approval and when Nadia invited him to the questioning, he accepted. Bether lead them to a room in the basement where loud noises wouldn't be heard by the rest of the temple.

Kari tied the unfortunate goblin to a chair, and Nadia gave him a thorough search discovering a couple of well-used daggers and several bits of unidentifiable... things... that obviously meant something to the goblin. Also, she found that his gold tooth was loose -- obviously from where she had knocked him unconscious. She pocketed this as well. When everyone was ready, Pip produced a bucket of cold water and threw it at him.

The planned interrogation was almost wrecked from the start, though, as Pip didn't just throw the water out of the bucket, but the bucket itself slipped from his fingers... The goblin missed decapitation by inches as the bucket sailed by his neck covering him in cold water.

The goblin sputtered back to wakefullness and after muttering several ugly and unpleasant things in the party's direction was temporarily cowed into silence by Kari's stare. Nadia -- who had picked up the goblin tongue at some point in the past -- lead the questioning. The gobin and the trolls had indeed been after the figure, and the goblin mentioned that whatever the party did to him, it would be worse for those who headed back to Snakehome empty handed.

Nadia, backed by Kari, began to pry information from the goblin. It was learned that there were two sets of caverns under the mountain -- the southern caves (nearest Hoarse Elk) and the northern caves (deep under the northern Drakespines).

The southern caves held many gobins and trolls to prevent any entry that way. The northern caves were where the prisoners were put to work -- in a mining area run by 'the Boss'. The gobin didn't know much about the Boss, except that he didn't have much of a sense of humor.

Through this, Brother Bether was barely containing himself -- especially when the goblin described the work the prisoners were directed to do. During the questioning, another cleric came in and whispered "Omiri has awakened and is asking for you." Nadia overheard the whisper and asked Bether if he wanted to go visit his friend Omiri. Bether hesitated and commented that 'friend' wasn't exactly accurate, but, yes, he was going to go hear what he had to say. He also pointedly reminded Nadia about turning the goblin over to the city guard when the party was done.

Orfeo and his unconscious companion were transferred carefully from the wagon, to stretchers and finally to the infirmary of the temple of Kord. There, they were healed, cleaned up, and given new garments to sleep in. Orfeo was given some strong, pepermint-flavored potion to drink and he became very drowsy, but remained awake for some time. The other figure was finally roused to wakefullness by one of the clerics and ate most of a bowl of what smelled like chicken soup. He then whispered something to one of the healers and that healer sped out of the room very quickly.

About five minutes later, Orfeo saw Brother Bether come into the infirmary followed by a scribe with numerous sheets of parchment. The scribe pulled up a small table and Brother Bether sat down next to the figure. For the next hour, Orfeo heard the whispering of the figure in the next bed, but because of his drugged state, he couldn't remember a word of it. When Bether stood up to leave, Orfeo muttered something and slipped into sleep.

Back in the interrogation room, Nadia had almost convinced the goblin that it would be much better for him to work for the party that any other alternative. The goblin said that if he returned to the caves now he'd be troll food -- at best. Also, no one gave him good odds on surviving the night if turned over to the city guard. With little option, the goblin agreed to be Kari's 'servant' if they got him out of this predicament.

Utilizing a barrel from one of the storerooms in the basement, Kari, Pip, and Nadia smuggled the goblin out of the temple and across the street to the stables where the party's wagon and the grummons were. There, they left him tied up in the barrel explaining exactly where he was and what would probably happen if he made enough noise to escape. The three then traveled down the street to the local 6/10 store and bought a bottle of liquid 'painkiller' for Orfeo. The shopkeeper took the goblin's gold tooth in trade for the vile liquid.

Returning to the temple of Kord, the three navigated their way to the infirmary. Kari's stare got them by the cleric on duty who tried to tell them that 'visiting hours were over!' The figure of Omiri was sound asleep. Orfeo was also. However, Nadia wanted to make sure that he wasn't in pain, so she asked Pip to wake him up.

Wanting to seem to be useful to Nadia, Pip produced another bucket of cold water which he tossed at Orfeo. Once again, the halfling forgot to hold onto the bucket. *KLANG* the bucket missed Orfeo by inches, but the water didn't miss him. Soaked to the skin, Orfeo bolted upright -- the words to one of his spells on his lips -- when he realized who it was.

Finding another dry robe, Orfeo changed and switched to the next (dry) bed in the infirmary. He accepted the bottle of Insane Canine and downed it and got very sleepy again. Before he passed out again, he told the party of Brother Bether's visit to 'the other guy in here'. With nothing left to do, the party tiptoed out and returned to their rooms to sleep.

The next morning, Nadia, Kari, Pip, and Orfeo gathered for morning prayers and calesthenics -- even Kinyan joined in saying that the full day of rest he'd had had worked wonders. He was all ready to get back out on the adventuring trail. He wondered aloud what had happened to Hesiciah -- when last Kinyan had seen him, he had looked kind of worn out...

After breakfast, Brother Bether approached the group and told them he had news from 'Omiri' that they should know about. Intrigued, the party followed him to his small office. "Here's something", he said with a flourish, "that makes any kind of information you've gotten from the goblin useless at best." He explained that Omiri had dictated his escape plan and its successful execution to him and a scribe last night, and he had made a copy for the adventurers to peruse.

He held up three sheets of parchment and Orfeo snatched them and read the following out loud to the party:

"When I decided {the parchment read} to make my break from Snakehome, I had my plan worked out. I faked dropping a rock on my leg near the end of my work time in the mine. I had scratched it up pretty badly beforehand of course, so I wasn't faking hobbling too much. The boss whipped me, but I didn't put up too much of a struggle. They dragged me out past all of the others and down the hall from the mine and through the southern gateway to the Pit.

I was faking unconsciousness, but I believe I was knocked out when the boss dropped me into The Pit. I landed smack on top of the sparkworms and it threw up a ghastly red glow. Then the Boss was gone, leaving me to die in with the worms.

In the tiny bit of light the worms gave off, I could see the skeleton of poor Tolvo, the poor halfling that had been captured in the Forever Swamp. He'd lasted until day before yesterday when he'd had his arm broken and they pitched him here. The worms had already stripped him to the bone.

I surveyed the wall, and I knew I could probably climb it. It would have been no trouble at all five years ago, but my skills were not what they had once been.

I climbed to the entrance of the Pit – about 20 feet up and glanced down the western tunnel… it was clear to my dark vision. I moved slowly into the tunnel and then quickly down to the crossroads.

Less than 50 feet north from the entrance to The Pit was the gate. Beyond it, I could see the lights leading to the northern exit – if Tolvo was telling the truth. But I couldn't go that way – I had to try south, out and back to Hoarse Elk.

Hugging the left wall I began moving as fast as I could south. The darkness quickly engulfed me but the small handful of sparkworms I carried lit a bit of the way ahead if I needed it.

I knew the way south was clear – we slaves had spent enough time clearing rockfalls – but it was long. I ran for a long time before I began to smell the turns. On the left first, then on the right were two huge, stone passages leading into the dark. The gobins and even the trolls didn't tarry long here, and I only chanced a flash of the worms to get a better look at the rune carved into the side of the door leading to the west -- an evil rune if I've ever seen one.

Miles more passed and I was getting tired. I noticed where some rocks had fallen and I climbed up them and discovered a small niche high on the west wall which I climbed into and rested.

And this was my salvation as well as a nasty shock! As I pushed my way back into the niche, there was a showering of stones and a skeleton fell upon me! Apparently, this space had been the final resting place of a dwarf from some age far in the past. All bones now, only a tightly woven grey burial cloak remained – and not much of it. I was glad for the material – anything to ward off the cold of the passage.

While I rested high above the passage, two goblin groups passed below. One had barely been an hour behind me… I'm glad I didn't tarry! They were leading slaves to clear the passage. For hours I was frozen in fear pressed back into the crack, but eventually, the sound of the creaking wagons receded back to the north.

I looked down and the passage was clear again… My makeshift ladder was gone, so I climbed back down silently and continued south.

I had barely gone any distance when I kicked something on the otherwise barren floor. It sounded like glass, and a flash of the worms showed me a small bottle, like an alchemist's sample bottle intact on the floor. I put the remaining sparkworms into it and pushed the cork in tightly. Now the worms seemed to glow brighter, so I hid the bottle under my rags to keep the light down.

I continued for what seemed like mile after mile and finally saw light ahead. Torchlight, but light. I smelled the foul stench of goblins and trolls. Peeking out, I saw I was in a large room with barrels and boxes and goblins! I dove behind one of the stacks of boxes and worked my way along the wall to the left of the passage I'd just come through. From boxes to barrels to other boxes I moved to cover.

I saw there were six exits to the room. Directly across from where I came in was a large passage. Above it, and to the right, was a small entrance with a platform overlooking the room. I saw that I was between two sets of two exits to the room. Two were on the north wall and two on the east wall. The more eastern of the two on the north wall was the one I had just come down.

I was sure that the exit was through the large entrance to the south, but there were a dozen goblins wandering around the room, not exactly patrolling, but not begin inattentive.

I worked my way past the northernmost of the two eastern passages when my luck began to run out. One of the boxes I was hiding behind cracked open and I had to quickly stuff myself inside before the goblins made it over to see what the noise was. I was stuck in the empty crate for what felt like days – but they didn't find me. After a long wait, there was a wail from the westernmost northern door. Most of the goblins immediately grabbed torches and -- with some of the insane gibbering that is their language – ran off up the tunnel.

I moved back along the eastern wall slipped up to the large passage. Trusting to luck, I bolted south and into a passage filled with something I hadn't smelled in a while – fresh air!

I reached a four-way, but to the south, I heard the sounds of booted feet, so I ran east, straight through another four-way and when I had to turn north or south, I turned south.

I finally saw light! Sunlight! Though it was fading. I raced out of The Teeth and the waterfall was on my left. Far in the distance was Hoarse Elk.

I ran… I kept running. I knew I had been seen, but I still ran until I could run no more and I fell… The rest you know.

When Orfeo finished reading Omiri's story everyone looked at each other -- Brother Bether was grinning ear to ear. "Now you don't need that filthy goblin" he said. "With this story, Omiri has given you a map right through the mountains to the Forever Swamp! You can work your way through the gobin's caves and come out the other side of the Drakespines and miss the winter storms completely!"

He grinned even wider at Nadia "You said you wanted something to do for the next month!" Nadia could only shake her head in agreement.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

End of Session 42

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	44. Session 43

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Death and Prophecy

by

Rockbender (and small edits by Lady Demoonica Darkmoon)

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Session 43

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Offering to go check on the goblin, Nadia took her leave and greeted Hesiciah and Aengus as they walked in. After an update on the current situation, both were up for an assault on the goblin caves. Hesiciah immediately began discussing hit-and-run tactics and he and Pip discussed plans to infiltrate the complex.

Brother Bether seemd very interested in the plans and -- since it was known trolls were in the caves -- produced five bottles of alchemist's fire for the party's use. He also indicated he'd speak to the town guard and get horses for them to use in the assault. He withdrew from the conversation to make the neccessary arrangements.

Pip and Hesiciah were busy trying to come up with a plan that could gain them the element of surprise when entering the caves. Fortunately Pip's plan of setting a horse on fire and setting him running through the caves was voted down. While it would be surprising and attention-getting, it might ultimately affect Pip's druidic abilities. Also, as a ranger, Hesiciah had an issue with it as well.

Orfeo had been patiently scribbling at a bit of parchment while reading and re-reading Omiri's account and finally handed it over for everyone's perusal. It was a rough map of Omiri's flight from the caves. Everyone looked over it and it seemed accurate to the story.

At this point, it was roughly decided that the party would approach the caves at near-dark using Pip's obscuring mist to approach unnoticed by the sentries that would almost certainly be watching. From there, things got a little hazy. Mostly the plan then involved a lot of goblins and troll dying and the party making off with lots of treasure.

This plan was greeted with universal approval and the party dispersed through town to purchase gear they believed they would need in the upcoming assault. Finally, as the day began to darken, everyone met at the north gate. Hopping on the loaned horses, the party took off at a good pace through the gathering dark.

About a mile from the caves it was very nearly completely dark and there was no sign of anything going on ahead. Pip cast obscuring mist and everyone grabbed the horse beside them and the party moved forward to the westernmost of the cavern entrances. Everyone dismounted and Pip had a few words with the horses, trying to impress on them the importance of staying fairly close to the caves in case the party needed to make a quick escape.

With no discussion, the party moved into the westernmost of 'the Teeth'. The huge white boulder on their right finally curved away into the darkness. The passage north began to curve away northwest. Everyone quieted down and listened. Aengus believed he heard noises coming from the north and east. The party then moved along the easternmost passage and passed several silent tunnels to the north and south.

While moving along the tunnels it became apparent to everyone that these were well-traveled and well-maintained passages. The ground was swept clean and no identifiying footprints crisscrossed the area, making tracking nearly impossible.

While walking down these passages, Hesiciah had what could only be classified as a vision. He was looking at the cavern above him and instead of rough-hewn walls, he saw sturdy, stone construction that looked dwarven. He swung his gaze around and he saw the passages -- not of a degenerate goblin cave -- but of a well-maintained and powerful dwarven city... possibly the entrance gate. He shook his head to clear the vision, but even then his sight retained some part of the image.

In the meantime, Kari had peeked around the passage leading north. Everyone could now hear some sounds from down the passage and Aengus noticed that the passage had a definite dip, then a rise into the areas beyond. Everyone gripped their weapons and moved slowly forward into the passage.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

End of Session 43

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	45. Session 44

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Death and Prophecy

by

Rockbender (and small edits by Lady Demoonica Darkmoon)

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Session 44

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While waiting at the northern cavern, Nadia – who had been silently shadowing the party since they had left town – rejoined them. She had remained behind temporarily to commune with Kord. He had appeared in the halfling's prayer long enough to chastise her for not being with the party while they assault the goblin caves. She had then grabbed a horse and had raced to join her friends.

After conferring with everyone, Nadia slipped silently down the northern corridor. At the bottom of the 'dip' in the passage, she could see torchlight coming from a room some thirty feet beyond her. She listened carefully and heard the low grumbling voices of goblins in the cavern before. Listening, she overheard something in horror – one of the voices had just whispered 'Quiet! They're just down the passage ... get ready... '

Nadia quietly moved back down the package and explained to the party that they were walking into a trap. They quickly decided to try some of the other passages to see if they could somehow turn the tables on the goblins.

Backtracking to the previous tunnel entrance, Nadia entered it and after a few steps she began to get a bad feeling. She checked for traps and found a plate attached to a wire to a huge boulder over the passage. She quietly and carefully disengaged the trap and – despite a small amount of dust trickling from the ceiling – she continued forward down the passage ... to a dead end. Her search for a secret door went unrewarded, so she returned to the party.

While the rest of the party stood guard quietly at the first passage, Nadia took a quick trip up the passage to the immediate right. This one quickly started angling up just like the one below it had 'dipped'. Nadia padded forward checking for traps and on an almost east-west bit of passage found a trap in the floor. It was a pit trap that would probably serve to drop someone down about fifteen feet into the 'dip' of the passage below.

She noted this and zipped back to the party with the news. Nadia indicated that if they could trick the creatures in the cavern into the narrow tunnels, someone could attack them from above through the pit. Kari volunteered and quietly moved down into the 'dip' far enough to see the low lights in the cavern beyond. Right behind her was Hesiciah, his crossbow nocked with a bolt dipped in pitch.

Kari nodded and shouted "Come out you green-skinned freaks!" at the top of her lungs. This produced no result, except all sound quieted. Hesiciah then lit the bolt and fired a random shot into the room.

This got a response.

A huge roar shook the cavern and the sounds of heavy feet and jingling chains indicated that something large and at least partially-restrained was headed for the small passage. Kari and Hesiciah made a quick retreat to stand just past the hole in the ceiling. Moments later a huge cavern troll, skin the color of granite forced its way into the small space. It was so big that its shoulders scraped the sides of the passage and sent small showers of rocks everywhere. Beyond it, the pair could see several gobins pulling futilely on the great beast's chains.

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End of Session 44

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	46. Session 45

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Death and Prophecy

by

Rockbender (and small edits by Lady Demoonica Darkmoon)

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Session 45

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Kari barred the troll's way with her flaming sword and Hesiciah proceeded to continue to pump the beast full of burning crossbow bolts. For their efforts, the troll hacked and clawed at Kari who withstood the assault much better than anyone else could have expected.

Nadia had already moved to the higher passage above this combat and had hidden. On a hunch, she moved around the pit and followed the curve of the passage north. Around the north curve she encountered three goblins armed with bows. They were as surprised as Nadia was, but not as quick. Nadia retreated down the corridor and jumped the pit quick as a flash. The goblins dropped their bows and charged Nadia.

The first remembered the pit and attacked Nadia missing badly. Nadia repaid him with a dagger that ended his life. The second goblin forgot the pit and with a crash dropped down fifteen feet onto the enraged cavern troll. With an absentminded claw, that goblin was dispatched. The third goblin was dispatched by a thrown dagger, but not before he had hit the halfling once with his nasty short sword.

Meanwhile, another group of goblins had sneaked around and was coming through the passage to the east of the 'upper' passage where Nadia was finishing her fight with the goblins. Kinyan began summoning celestial dogs to attack the goblins and protect the adventure's flanks. Orfeo also cast spell after spell at the green goblin tide. For a time, this was a stalemate.

Finally, the cavern troll shuddered and collapsed at the feat of Kari who flung one of Brother Bether's alchemist's fires on it to keep it burning. Across the troll's body clambered another troll – this time one of the 'green and loathsome' varieties. It resumed the attack since its companion had faltered. Its attack was no less deadly or effective against the dragon shaman and the ranger.

The battle in the eastern caves was still a stalemate between Orfeo, Kinyan, and Kinyan's summoned animals until Pip returned from checking out the southern caves. Quickly, he changed form into a crocodile and began snapping and thrashing his tail at the goblins who didn't know what to make of the great lizard. Orfeo took this moment to break and zip up the 'overhead' tunnel looking for Nadia.

He saw her at the end of the passage, on the far side of the revealed pit, then he saw her running back followed by a third troll (once again the green and loathsome variety). Frantically gesturing, he cast a fireball targeting the troll. Moments before he said the last words, Nadia dove through the pit and down bouncing and tumbling to the area behind the fallen cave troll. She continued tumbling through the passage to get as far away from the BOOM as she could.

Orfeo's fireball severely hurt the troll. Unfortunately, in the narrow passage the blast also reached out and hit Hesiciah, Kari, several goblins, Pip, the other troll, and Orfeo himself. Everyone was scorched and more than a little annoyed by the spell being cast in that manner, but combat was still going on. The wizard zipped back down the passage yelling a warning to his companions about another oncoming troll.

Moments later, Kari was hit by the second troll and severely wounded. Aengus took a moment and healed her and Hesiciah dragged her away from the combat. Then, the dwarf finished off the wounded troll and doused it in alchemist's fire like the first one. It burned prettily, but gave off a worse stench than the first troll.

As Angus started to move the last couple of steps east to join in the fight with the third troll, he was overcome with a vision. In front of his awestruck eyes, the dark, gloomy, natural tunnel shimmered, shook, and presented itself to him again as if it were a well-built and well-maintained cut stone dwarven tunnel. Sconces decorated the walls high above the ground and they gave off a cold, white light. He shook his head, and he was back in the dank cave moving toward the troll that was fighting a very overmatched Orfeo, Kinyan, and Pip-as-a-crocodile.

Aengus then moved into the breach blocking the third troll from engaging Orfeo and the lightly-smoking troll pulled up short in front of its race's natural enemy. Aengus traded many blows with the creature, hitting it many times, but it was unable to get a single hit on the dwarf. Pip also joined this battle taking a bite or three against the troll, but missing every time. Grumpily, he returned to the battle with the remaining three goblins that he and the celestial dog were fighting.

Kinyan conjured another celestial dog and placed it behind the troll, but luck finally ran out for the sorcerer as the troll decided to reach out and claw him. Kinyan's yellow robes were covered in his own blood and he slid to the floor, unconscious and dying.

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End of Session 45

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	47. Session 46

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Death and Prophecy

by

Rockbender (and small edits by Lady Demoonica Darkmoon)

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Session 46

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Kari recovered long enough to see that Kinyan had been terribly wounded. She touched him and healed him a bit, then passed out from her wounds. Kinyan, using the cavern wall for support, got back to his feet and moved slowly back up the passage.

While all this was going on, Nadia was getting her first good look at the large cavern beyond the combat zone. It was a large, tall, natural cavern reaching some sixty feet wide, eighty feet long, and seventy or so feet high. It was empty except for numerous barrels stacked around the western side of the room and between the three exits to the northeast and west were four large boxes. Momentarily ignoring the sounds of combat behind her, she moved to the first box on the west wall.

Moments later it was opened and she found several weeks worth of well-packed rations suitable for a seige packed in salt and other preservatives. Behind her, she heard the bellowing of a troll and realized her companions probably still needed her. She ran over to the wall and – after a false start – climbed up to the level of the passage. Quickly she raced down the passage, jumped over the pit, and turned the corner. She was just in time to see Kinyan's second celestial dog dissolve back to the outer planes.

In front of her was the green and warty back of the third troll. Beyond it, she could see Aengus, Pip, and Orfeo fighting the troll and something she couldn't see left of the passage. She flung her returning dagger at the troll and was pleasantly surprised as the blade bit deep into the green flesh, causing a tremendous roar of pain.

Pip and the celestial dog had worried the large band of goblins pushing through the passage down to three. Once the dog had vanished, though, the goblins pressed their attacks against him. One even managed to damage him through his crocodile hide. The druid finally gave up trying to bite the goblins (they tasted bad anyway). With a flourish, he spun around and caught one of the goblins with a tail slap that nearly cut the creature in half. Moments later, magic missiles flung by Orfeo felled this on and another. Finally ready, Pip's second tail swing crushed the last goblin's chest and splattered him against the cavern walls. Pip hissed in victory and turned to help harry the troll.

A good thing, too, because at that moment, the troll got a good, solid bite on Aengus who bellowed in pain. Nadia contributed another dagger into its back to try to get it to left go of her dwarven companion, but it would not left go. Finally, a combined attack from Nadia, Kinyan, Pip, and a scorching ray from Orfeo managed to knock the troll free and it slumped to the ground, breathing heavily – its wounds already beginning to knit back together.

With a roar, Kinyan leaped forward and cast acid splash on the troll to further hamper its regeneration. Quickly, everyone got in on the action and the troll was chopped, dismembered, beaten, and burned to the point of death. Kinyan stepped back -- his yellow robe stained with his own blood -- and yelled: "Yeah! This is adventuring! Blood and glory and gold! …stagger… Can I take a nap now?" Everyone rolled their eyes as the sorcerer tried to collect himself after his near-death experience.

With the stench of burning troll and dismembered goblin still hanging in the air, Nadia quietly returned to her examination of the main cavern's boxes and barrels. She unlocked the second chest and beheld a multitude of small sacks containing a small fortune in gold, gemstones, and several art objects. These included a golden circlet, a beaten gold crown with gems, and a statue of a maiden on a unicorn. There was also a rod that brightly glowed with magical power.

While she ransacked the box, Pip came over and the pair jokingly conspired to run off with this box and leave the party empty-handed. However, Aengus who was discussing the battle with Orfeo saw through this and wandered over to view the treasure. One thing everyone noticed was that the box that this stuff was in was different from the other boxes in the cavern. For one thing, it was made out of sturdier wood that had been painted brown. For another, the contents were packaged a little too neatly for goblins or trolls to manage.

While Hesiciah and Kari stood guard, Kinyan was summoned and detected that the statue of the maiden and the rod were both magical – glowing with transmutation magic. He also commented that one of the miscellaneous gems in the case was a black pearl which would be beneficial to casting identify. It was dispensed to the sorcerer so he could work on the statue and the rod.

Nadia also checked the contents of the third and fourth boxes which turned out to be just like the first box – more well-seasoned foodstuffs which -- in this cool and dry cavern – would last for many months. The only thing keeping the adventurers from filling out their personal stocks of rations with this bounty was that not even Hesiciah and Pip could tell exactly what kind of beast the preserved meat had come from. The slightly purple tint to the meat made everyone shake their heads and say 'Pass!'

The party shuffled the remainder of the treasures around to make sure everyone was carrying part of the weight. While this was going on, Nadia and Pip playfully tried on the crown and the circlet. Pip looked quite regal in the headband and everyone grinned appreciatively. The crown didn't fit on Nadia's head properly, however, and it slipped comically over her eyes. As she lifted it, she was stunned to silence at the sight that she saw.

The cavern before her had transformed! It was a huge, well-lit cavern of dressed stone which was filled with faded, indistinct figures of armored dwarves. The exits to the room were all there and a tall, crenellated tower stood where the rough stone overlook was. Each of the room's many exits were arches of well-dressed stone. As the halfling stared, she saw a magical rune carved into the left side of each door in an oversized stone, seemingly left there for that purpose.

More than anything, though, was the noise… a constant whirring and hissing of voices which Nadia could only assume was some dialect of dwarven. She could – after all – make out some of what was being said… She heard many voices saying things along the lines of "Today is a great day to be a dwarf … We are blessed of the gods today … Our new mine will make us wealthy beyond measure … The might of Terrok Mow will one day rule the lands around …"

Thinking that one of her companions might understand this more than she, Nadia began speaking these snippets out loud hoping that her companions would hear and understand.

What the party saw was the crown falling over the halfling's eyes, then she lifted it and they beheld her eyes had gone totally black… She then began speaking in a horrible, deep, non-halfling voice. What she was saying was beyond any of the party. They looked around at each other and even Aengus had no idea what she was saying. Orfeo commented in horror that some of what she was saying sounded like the Infernal tongue and that frightened everyone. Pip's ears were ringing – it was almost painful for him to listen to what Nadia was saying.

With only a slight hesitation, Orfeo reached out and snatched the crown away from Nadia's fingers that grudgingly released it to the sorcerer. To everyone's relief, the halfling's eyes returned to normal and she seemed genuinely confused as to the party's description of what had occurred. Nadia protested to Aengus that he should have understood her and the dwarf sadly replied that he had never heard dwarven spoken that way before.

The crown was wrapped up and put away with no one doubting that it was ensorcelled or cursed or hexed in some devious manner. Nadia compared notes with Hesiciah and Aengus and described her vision and the three concluded that they were traveling not through a simple natural cavern complex, but a former dwarven city. However, all evidence of this had been erased from at least this part of the complex.

It now had been at least ten minutes since the battle had ended and while Hesiciah and Kari had made no sign that anyone was coming, no-one believed that they had slain all of the enemies in the cave. Everyone strained their ears and Nadia and Orfeo thought they heard noises coming from the westernmost of the rough passageways in the north wall. Silently, the group gathered their things and pondered their next move.

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End of Session 46

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End file.
